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FATHER    HEREDIA    EXHIBITS    THE    "TOOLS   OE   THE    TRADE 


Spiritism    and 
Common  Sense 


BY 


C.  M.  de  Heredia,  SJ. 


"The  imprudent  who  run  after  the 
spirits,   lose  their  own  spirit." 

J.  Bois  {The  Modern  Miracle) 


P.  J.  Kenedy  &  Sons 

Publishers  to  the  Holy  Apostolic  See 
New  York 


Copyright,  1922,  by 

P.  J.  Kenedy  &  Sons 

Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


GIFT 


PSYCH. 


To 

THE    FATHERS    AND     BROTHERS 

OF  THE 

NEW  ENGLAND  AND   NEW  YORK   PROVINCES 
OF     THE     SOCIETY     OF     JESUS 
IN   TESTIMONY   OF  GRATITUDE 

FROM     THEIR    EXILED     MEXICAN     BROTHER 

THE   AUTHOR 


825 


Letter  From  The  Apostolic  Delegate 


Apostolic  Delegation,  United  States  of  America, 

1811  Biltmore  Street,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Nov.  28,  1920. 
Reverend  Father: 

Having  assisted  at  the  two  conferences  which  your 
reverence  so  ably  gave  in  this  city,  I  am  glad  to  express 
my  congratulations.  I  am  delighted  also  and  grateful, 
not  only  for  the  pleasure  given  me  and  the  rest  of  the 
spectators  but  above  all  for  the  good  that  such  conferences 
will  doubtless  produce. 

Let  us  always  open  more  and  more  the  eyes  of  the 
public — especially  Catholics — to  dangers  of  Spiritism; 
making  them  at  the  same  time  realize  that  many  phe- 
nomena attributed  to  a  mysterious  and  occult  cause  are 
reducible  to  clever  trickery. 

Accept,  then,  the  renewed  expression  of  my  sentiment 
of  admiration.  Blessing  you  in  the  Lord,  I  have  the 
pleasure  to  sign  myself, 

Your  Reverence's  servant  in  Christ, 
GIOVANNI  BONZANO, 
Arcivescovo  di  Melitene,  Delegato  Apostolico. 
R.  F.  C.  M.  de  Heredia,  SJ., 
Holy  Cross  College,  Worcester,  Mass. 


Publishers'  Foreword 

The  author  of  this  book,  Rev.  C.  M.  de 
Heredia,  SJ.,  is  so  interesting  a  personality  to 
meet,  so  fascinating  when  he,  a  Jesuit  of  dignity, 
is  at  play  with  his  "ghosts"  and  ectoplasmic 
"spirits"  that  we  give  here,  for  the  reader's  bene- 
fit, a  short  account  and  description  of  him  as  taken 
from  an  interview,  "The  Secret  of  Spirit  Trick- 
ery," printed  in  the  Boston  Sunday  Post  of 
March  14,  1920. 

"Father  Heredia  is  a  rather  short,  stocky  man, 
of  Mexican  birth,  with  a  little  forward  thrust  of 
his  head  and  two  of  the  most  amazing  blue  eyes  I 
ever  saw.  One  moment  they  are  looking  at  you, 
dreamily,  quietly,  almost  sleepily.  And  the  next 
they  sharpen  to  a  point  and  gaze  through  your 
skull  at  the  wall  behind  you.  The  effect  was  most 
discomforting  to  skeptical  me. 

"For  Father  Heredia  is  a  master  of  magic  and 

mystification,  a  student  in  his  youth  of  the  great 

Herrmann,  an  artist  supreme  of  the  arts  of  the 

medium  and  clairvoyant.    Yet,  as  he  told  me,  his 

vii 


PUBLISHERS'  FOREWORD 

delving  into  the  mystery  of  the  shadowy  world  of 
the  unseen  is  only  a  hobby.  Primarily  he  is  a  stu- 
dent— a  student  of  the  modern  languages  and  the 
classics,  of  philosophy  and  science.  His  father 
was  a  very  rich  Mexican,  who  had  built  a  pri- 
vate theater  for  him  and  his  brothers.  When  any 
celebrity  came  to  Mexico,  the  father  arranged  to 
have  him  come  and  give  a  private  performance 
in  the  boys'  theater.  Once  Herrmann,  the  famous 
magician,  was  in  Mexico,  and  performed  before 
the  boys  in  their  theater.  The  father  was  so  im- 
pressed at  the  magician's  skill  that  he  arranged 
to  have  him  teach  the  boys  his  art.  With  this  in- 
struction by  Herrmann  began  Father  Heredia's 
interest  in  magic.  All  through  his  life  he  has  fol- 
lowed the  various  tricks  of  the  great  magicians, 
many  of  whom  have  been  personal  acquaintances 
of  his. 

"When  spiritism  became  popular,  he  perceived 
that  most  mediums  were  but  unadept  magicians, 
and  devoted  his  spare  time  to  disclosing  many  of 
their  so-called  mysterious  powers." 

P.  J*  Kenedy  &  Sons 


CONTENTS 

ANALYTIC  INDEX 

CHAPTER  I 

The  World  Wants  to  he  Deceived 

PAGES 

Man  likes  to  be  mystified. — Credulity  of  people  no  exagger- 
ation.— Gabriel  Jogand. — Leo  Taxil,  and  his  collaborators. 
— His  mystification. — He  has  taught  Catholics  a  lesson. — 
When  we  are  at  war  we  are  prone  to  blame  the  enemy  for 
everything. — The  evil  spirits  are  not  our  only  enemies. — 
God  uses  secondary  causes. — So  the  devil,  the  "Ape  of 
God." — Because  certain  phenomena  are  inexplicable,  it  does 
not  follow  that  Satan  is  personally  to  blame 1-7 

CHAPTER  II 

The  Origin  of  Spiritism 

The  belief  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  communicate  with  us, 
as  old  as  man. — Spiritism,  scientifically  speaking,  is  an 
hypothesis. — As  a  religion,  it  first  made  its  appearance  in 
1848. — Mrs.  Fox. — Her  experiences. — Margaret  and  Cath- 
arine.— Beginning  of  their  career. — The  death-blow  to 
Spiritualism. — Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane  and  Mrs.  Catha- 
rine Fox  Jencken ;  their  denunciation. — The  "New  York 
World."— The  real  origin  of  the  "raps" 8-15 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Psychology  of  the  Observer 

Spiritism  claims  it  has  science  to  back  it  up. — Men  of  science 
and  real  scientific  men. — Prof.  Hyslop ;  his  tremendous  rea- 
soning about  Galileo  and  Copernicus  and  the  discovery  of 
America. — Sir  William  Crookes  an  authority  on  chemistry, 
but  not  on  moral  and  religious  matters. — Facts,  hypotheses 
and  theories. — Sir  Bertram  Windle. — Great  scientists  are 
often  like  children  in  the  occurrences  of  daily  life. — A 
seance  with  a  scientific  observer. — His  secretary's  notes. — 
There  is  another  way  of  looking  at  the  affair. — He  sticks  to 
his  conclusions. — Men  who  make  a  living  writing  books  on 
the  questions  of  the  hour. — We  do  not  ridicule  all  scientific 

investigation 16-29 

is 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Psychology  of  the  Medium 

PAGES 

Mediums  are  industrious  people.— They  are  organized. — A 
"School  of  Mediumship."— Private  mediums.— Eusapia  Pal- 
ladino  and  Eva  C— Definition  of  a  "medium."— What  Mar- 
garet Fox  says  about  mediums'  morality. — W.  C.  J.  Craw- 
ford's opinion.— Sir  William  Barrett  and  Eusapia.— Com- 
bination of  fraud  and  real  power  explained.— Private  me- 
diums do  not  work  for  money,  but  they  do  get  money  for 
their  work. — The  fascination  for  mystifying  others. — Scien- 
tific pride  of  Eva  C.  and  Madame  Bisson.— Human  nature  is 
human  nature 30-40 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Psychology  of  a  Seance 

Singing,  dim  lamps,  and  perfumes.— The  spirits  cannot  work 
otherwise. — Scientific  opinion  doubts  the  conclusions  of  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge. — Consideration  of  the  mediums  inclines  us  to 
doubt  their  honesty. — A  seance. — It  is  over. — Darkness  or 
the  feeblest  of  lights  necessary  for  advanced  phenomena.— 
Emotional  sensitiveness  tends  to  increase. — Disturbed  sensi- 
tiveness harmful  for  accurate  observation. — Psychology  of 
the  crowd. — Sirs  William  Crookes,  Oliver  Lodge  and  Wil- 
liam Barrett  "taken  in"  at  a  seance.— Testimony  of  Madame 
Blavatslqf. — The  human  factor 41-52 

CHAPTER  VI 

What  Are  Psychical  Phenomena? 

The  House  of  Spiritism  built  largely  of  rubbish.— Confusion 
as  to  just  what  are  psychical  phenomena. — Dr.  Lapponi's 
wonderful  seance. — He  has  no  personal  experience. — Defini- 
tion of  psychical  phenomena. — Sensible  effect. — Provoked. — 
The  medium  is  only  an  instrumental  cause.— The  unseen 
agent.— The  principal  cause.— Difference  between  the  force 
and  the  mind  directing  the  force.— What  is  meant  by  the 
words  "forces  generally  unknown"  ?— Two  types  of  psychical 
phenomena S3-S9 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  Research  for  Psychical  Phenomena:  Fraud 

What  we  mean  bv  psvchical  research.— Phenomena  that 
come  under  the  study  of  biology,  pathology,  etc.— Psychical 
and    psychological    phenomena.— Phenomena    produced    by 


CONTENTS  XI 

PAGES 

trickery  or  fraud  eliminated. — The  Indian  fakirs  and  Jac- 
colliot. — Dr.  Lapponi  again. — The  fakir's  funeral. — Fr. 
Ugarte  de  Ercilla's  explanation. — Baldwin's. — D.  D.  Home 
and  his  famous  accordion. — How  I  offer  the  same  demon- 
stration in  my  lectures. — The  "after  tune"  that  startled  Sir 
William  Crookes  so  much. — Articles  thrown  about  the  room 
in  the  dark. — The  Thomas  and  Davenport  brothers. — J.  N. 
Maskelyne  exposes  the  fraud. — Sir  Conan  Doyle  still  puts 
faith  in  rope-tying  seances. — Some  Catholics  also  admit  them 
as  genuine  phenomena. — Sealed  envelope  reading. — Spirit 
photography. — The  "Fairies"  of  Sir  Conan  Doyle. — Hyslop 
and  spirit  painting. — Mrs.  Lee's  psychic  photographs  and 
Dr.  Carrington. — Names  of  the  greatest  mediums  detected 
in  deceit. — Prof.  Flournoy's  opinion 6o-7S 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Research  for  Psychical  Phenomena:  The  Force 

Again  the  force  and  the  mind  behind  the  force. — Phenomena 
of  unusual  character  which  may  be  traced  to  some  mental 
or  physical  disorder,  or  both. — Clairvoyancy. — Clairaudiency. 
— Hallucination. — "Materialization"  is  the  scientific  name  for 
a  ghost. — Phosphorescence  and  fluorescence  in  minerals, 
plants  and  animals. — Mr.  Walter  J.  Kilner  and  the  human 
aura. — Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing. — Automatic  writing;  its 
physical  part. — Somnambulism. — Different  classes  of  som- 
nambulists.— Trance ;  its  physical  part. — Resemblance  to  som- 
nambulism and  hypnotism. — Raps,  and  levitation. — The  force 
that  produces  them  still  unknovra. — Similar  forces  in  nature: 
loadstone,  electromagnets. — Raps  under  control ;  experiment 
of  Prof.  Maxwell. — Human  magnetism. — Mediums  that  can 
levitate  a  wooden  table  cannot  work  on  metals. — Eusapia 
and  metal  ornaments  on  her  table. — Dr.  Crawford's  decla- 
rations:  the  table  must  be  of  wood. — Spirits  cannot  work 
with  metals. — Therefore  the  force  or  forces  that  levitate  the 
table  seem  to  have  a  natural  origin 76-go 

CHAPTER  IX 

Research  for  Psychical  Phenomena:  The  Message 

For  the  Spiritist  every  unusual  occurrence  at  a  seance  is  an 
evidence  for  his  belief. — The  real  point  is,  the  mind  behind 
the  force. — Therefore  the  importance  of  the  message. — We 
eliminate  messages  produced  by  trickery. — We  must  not 
judge  the  power  of  the  message  by  the  effect  it  produces  on 
us. — Declarations  of  Frances  Reed,  one-time  public  medium. 
—The     "dope-book." — How     mediums     get     information. — 


xii  CONTENTS 


PAGES 

"Planting"  a  town.— The  "Blue  Book."— How  a  private 
medium  got  her  information. — Lip   readers     ....     91-100 

CHAPTER  X 

Research  for  Psychical  Phenomena:    The   Message   from   the 

Subconscious  Mind 

Powers  of  the  mind. — We  have  only  one  mind. — Conscious- 
ness and  unconsciousness. — The  terms  "subconscious"  and 
"unconscious." — The  mind  like  an  iceberg. — Impressions  re- 
called at  will  by  mental  processes ;  impressions  that  cannot  be 
controlled. — Ten  billion  cells  in  our  brain. — How  the  sub- 
conscious mind  works. — Ouija  giving  a  fragment  of  poetry. 
— All  that  comes  from  the  subconscious  mind  of  the  medium 
must  be  excluded 101-107 

CHAPTER  XI 

Psychical  Phenometm 

Psychical  phenomena  exist. — Process  of  elimination. — No 
definite  conclusion  may  be  reached  until  each  particular  case 
is  carefully  examined  and  authenticated. — Two  fictitious 
cases. — The  message  of  an  aunt  by  table-tilting. — The  mes- 
sage of  Th.  J.  Queen  through  automatic  writing. — The  three 
different  theories. — Note :  We  exclude  "real  knowledge  of 
the    future" loS-iji 

CHAPTER  Xn 

The  Diabolic  Theory 

In  this  theory  the  devil  is  the  physical  cause  of  the  psychi- 
cal phenomena. — The  devil  is  the  other  mind. — Possession 
and  obsession. — Fr.  Poulain's  definitions. — Warnings  of  the 
Ritual. — Trance  and  possession. — A  famous  case  of  posses- 
sion in  Natal,  Africa. — There  is  a  vast  difference  between 
ordinary  trance  and  possession. — The  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  diabolic  theory. — The  devil  has  preternatural  powers. 
— There  is  no  adequate  natural  theory  to  explain  these  phe- 
nomena.— The  effects  are  bad;  therefore,  it  is  the  devil. — 
The  testimony  of  the  "spirits." — This  reasoning  a  little  spe- 
cious.— Satan  the  moral  cause  of  the  evil  effect. — They 
usually  argue  in  generalizations. — What  Prof.  Flournoy 
says. — The  diabolical  explanation  for  all  real  psychical  phe- 
nomena is  a  theory 112-125 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Natural  Theory 

PAGES 

There  are  many  theories,  but  mainly  concerned  with  the 
force  and  not  with  the  mind  controlling  the  force. — In  the 
study  of  telepathy  may  be  found  the  real  solution. — Sir 
Wm.  Crookes'  theory  of  psychic  forces. — Mr.  Denis's  radia- 
tions.— Crawford's  rod. — The  astral  body. — What  Raymond 
tells  his  father,  Sir  Oliver,  about  it. — The  only  natural 
theory  worth  considering  is  telepathy. — Genuine  cases  of 
telepathy  are  known. — How  it  explains  cross-correspon- 
dence.— Explanation  of  our  typical  cases. — This  theory  is  in 
its  infancy. — But  it  affords  us  an  explanation    ....  126-132 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Spiritistic  Theory 

The  explanation  of  our  typical  cases  very  simple :  the  dis- 
carnate  souls. — Do  not  reject  natural  theories;  nor  the  dia- 
bolical.—But  there  is  little  at  the  bottom.— Its  whole  foun- 
dation is:  the  word  of  the  spirits. — But  how  does  any  one 
know  that  a  discarnate  spirit  gives  a  message? — There  is  no 
evidence  that  is  convincing. — For  Spiritists  all  is  evidence. 
— Why  don't  spirits  write  messages  by  themselves,  without 
the  hand  of  a  medium? — An  interesting  letter  from  Mrs. 
F.  W.  H.  Myers.— The  sealed  letter  and  Mrs.  Verrall.— 
Spiritgrams  often  come  from  the  subconscious, — Confusion 
between  spontaneous  and  provoked  phenomena     .     .     .   133-143 

CHAPTER  XV 

Spiritism  as  a  Religion 

The  religious  system  based  on  the  Spiritistic  theory. — For 
its  followers  every  curious  happening  is  "evidence." — New 
methods  of  communication. — The  ouija  board  the  great 
spiritistic  receiver. — Declaration  of  principles  of  the  National 
Spiritualists'  Association  of  America. — Spiritism  not  a 
scientifically  demonstrated  fact. — But  to  discuss  Spiritism 
we  will  admit  for  a  few  moments  that  it  is  so. — The  con- 
trol and  the  communicator. — Uncertainty  about  the  honesty 
of  the  medium  or  the  work  of  the  subconscious. — How  can 
we  find  out  that  the  control  is  honest? — Sir  Conan  Doyle's 
own  words. — What  Sir  William  Barrett  says. — Some  of 
Feda's  communications  to  good  Sir  Oliver. — Prof.  Flour- 
noy  summarizes  the  situation. — Two  messengers,  both  of 
them  drunk. — And  what  about  the  "communicator"? — Doyle 
again. — Spirits    on   the    first    plane    are    like    recen.ly-born 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGES 

babies. — The  greatest  number  of  communications  come  from 
this  plane. — To  communicate  with  other  planes,  a  "spirit 
relay"  is  required. — Spirits  are  essentially  human,  is  Craw- 
ford's experience. — To  trust  the  testimony  of  a  person, 
veracity  and  knowledge  are  required. — Moral  impossibility  of 
certitude  through  these  channels. — Prof.  Flournoy's  opinion. 
— Even  admitting  Spiritism  as  a  theory,  there  is  little  foun- 
dation for  anything  that  resembles  a  religion    ....  144-159 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Spiritism  and  Morals 

The  actual  ignorance  of  the  universal  cause  of  psychical 
phenomena  in  no  way  affects  the  moral  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion.— Dealing  with  the  abnormal  has  a  tendency  to  disturb 
man's  normal  balance. — Superstitious  beliefs  and  practices. 
— The  Holy  Office. — The  Church  knows  best. — The  Second 
Council  of  Baltimore. — St.  Thomas's  words. — Condemned 
in  Holy  Writ. — Over-emotionalism. — Sir  William  Barrett's 
opinion. — Communication  with  the  damned  or  devils  can 
produce  nothing  but  evil. — They  pay  the  price  in  some 
fashion,  spiritual  or  physical. — It  is  as  a  house  afflicted  with 
some  contagious  disease. — Catholics  promise  in  Baptism,  to 
renounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works 160-167 

EPILOGUE 

The  Spaniard  and  the  news  of  the  American  War. — So  the 
Spiritists  do. — We  want  to  believe  what  is  favorable  to  our 
present  desires. — "Art  thou  He  that  art  to  come?" — And  so 
do  the  Apostles  of  the  New  Revelation. — Christ  walks  out 
{nto  the  open. — It  seems  a  work  of  desecration  to  institute 
comparison  between  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  the  so-called 
spiritistic  phenomena. — Let  those  outside  the  Church  think 
as  they  wish. — It  is  our  Faith  that  affords  us  the  beautiful 
explanations  of  the  true  spiritual  life. — In  our  mortal  lives 
we  must  rely  constantly  on  human  faith. — Let  us  trust  Him 
Who  is  Our  Father  and  knows  what  is  beyond  the  grave. 
— Let  the  Spiritist,  like  the  Hindu,  when  dying,  clutch  a_t  the 
tail  of  the  Sacred  Cow.— Words  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy' .   168-175 

APPENDIX  I 

How  I  Became  a  Spirit  Medium 

An  excerpt  from  "Revelations  of  a  Spirit  Medium,"  pub- 
lished in  1891. — A  confession  of  deception  which  began  in 
fun  and  continued  in  earnest 177-183 


CONTENTS  XV 

APPENDIX  II 
Eva  C. 

PAGES 

Some  account  of  this  famous  medium  and  her  work  with 
Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing  and  his  book,  "Phenomena  of 
Materialization" 186-194 

APPENDIX  III 

Ectoplasm 

Photographs  which  reveal  the  "substance"  of  "ectoplasm" 
and  its  places  of  concealment 195-198 

APPENDIX  ly 

Spirit  Photographs 

A  brief  comment  on  methods  employed  in  so-called  "spirit 
photography" 199-200 

APPENDIX  V 

Levitation 

An  account  of  the  author's  demonstration  at  Springfield, 
reprinted  from  the  "Springfield  Republican"     ....  201-20S 

LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

A  complete  list,  with  author  and  date  of  publication,  of  all 
volumes  consulted  by  the  author  in  preparing  this  manu- 
script          207-220 


Prologue 

This  book  makes  no  claim  to  be  a  scientific 
work.  That  its  full  significance  may  be  under- 
stood by  the  average  reader,  I  have  avoided  as  far 
as  possible  all  technical  expressions  and  refer- 
ences. 

The  book  presupposes  some  little  knowledge  of 
Spiritism,  but  not  to  such  an  extent  as  to  prevent 
the  ordinary  man  from  understanding  the  argu- 
ment and  conclusion.  It  seeks  to  define  just  what 
psychical  phenomena  are,  and  then  discusses  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  various  the- 
ories offered  to  explain  these  phenomena.  It  is 
a  brief  treatise.  It  does  not  pretend  to  be  exhaus- 
tive. If  Our  Lord  wills  that  it  be  profitable  to 
some,  I  shall  be  satisfied. 

Feci  quod  potui,  faciant  majora  potentes. 

I  did  what  I  could,  let  the  powerful  do  more. 

C.  M.  DE  Heredia,  S.J. 
June  22,  1922. 

Holy  Cross  College, 
Worcester,  Mass. 


Spiritism  and  Common  Sense 


"the  world  wants  to  be  deceived." 

— (old  proverb.) 

MAN  likes  to  be  mystified.  If  the  mystifica- 
tion is  well  done  and  appears  to  have  a 
foundation  in  fact  he  is  not  only  entertained  but 
completely  deceived.  His  natural  credulousness 
makes  his  deception  easy.  A  wave  of  the  wand 
and — presto!  the  rabbit  appears  from  the  hat. 
But  not  only  the  feats  of  magicians  fool  him. 
Magic  is  a  sort  of  business  nowadays  and  man  is 
inclined  to  be  more  wary  of  its  marvels  than  he  is 
of  more  mystical  hoaxes.  Tell  him  of  some  occult 
rite,  of  some  secret  organization  that  deals  with 
demons,  of  some  oriental  cult  that  is  privy  to  the 
secrets  of  the  nether  world,  of  some  strange  so- 
ciety that  meets  the  spirits  of  the  dead  in  unknown 
caverns  or  far-away  citadels — and  he  swallows 
all.  Not  only  does  he  delight  in  these  fabrications, 
as  the  child  in  the  fairy  story,  but  like  the  child,  he 

believes. 

I 


2     SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

This  credulity  of  people  is  no  exaggeration. 
History  bears  witness  to  its  truth.  Its  pages, 
early  and  late,  tell  the  story  of  secret  formulae, 
strange  rituals,  alchemy,  witchcraft,  black  magic, 
Satanic  societies,  and  the  like,  some  few  of  which 
may  have  had  origin  in  fact,  but  most  of  which 
were  merely  the  inventions  of  ingenious,  shrewd, 
imaginative  men  and  women,  to  mystify  their  fol- 
lowers. And  those  who  were  duped  have  not  been 
only  the  illiterate  and  simple;  the  erudite  and 
trained  and  so-called  intellectuals  are  in  that  band 
as  well. 

Mystification  is  particularly  effective  when  Sa- 
tan and  his  minions  are  introduced  into  the  play. 
There  is  an  example  taken,  not  from  the  days 
of  the  Assyrian  mysteries  or  Jewish  cabalism  or 
the  Faustian  years  of  the  Christian  centuries,  but 
from  the  eighties  and  nineties  of  the  last  century 
in  France,  that  illustrates  my  point  well.  It  is 
the  hoax  of  the  notorious  '*Leo  Taxil." 

A  young  Frenchman,  Gabriel  Jogand,  born  in 
1854  at  Marseilles,  came  before  the  public  during 
the  seventies  as  a  vile  and  violent  critic  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  Because  of  his  vituperative 
abuse  of  religion  and  individuals  he  paid  many 
penalties  of  fine  and  imprisonment.  In  1881  he 
became  a  Freemason,  but  left  the  order  in  the 
same  year.    He  tried  various  ingenious  methods 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE     3 

of  keeping  himself  in  funds  and  bringing  himself 
before  the  public.  For  several  years  he  had  ordi- 
nary success.  Suddenly,  in  1885,  he  professed 
his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  Church — in  which, 
by  the  way,  he  had  been  born  and  which  he  had 
deserted  early — and  after  a  renunciation  of  for- 
mer ideas  and  associates,  and  an  expression  of 
deep  contrition,  he  was  received  into  the  Church. 
Almost  immediately  after  his  conversion  he  began 
his  "revelations"  of  Freemasonry.  In  book  and 
pamphlet  he  spread  abroad  the  most  blood-curd- 
ling "revelations"  of  the  Masonic  organization. 
Two  years  later  he  went  to  Rome  where  Pope  Leo 
XIII  received  him  and  blessed  him  for  his  labors. 
He  wrote  under  the  pen  name  of  his  early  days, 
"Leo  Taxil"  and  under  numerous  other  pseudo- 
nyms, and  had  many  collaborators.  Church  dig- 
nitaries and  influential  Catholic  laymen  gave  him 
their  support.  His  popularity  spread  like  that  of 
the  author  of  a  best  seller.  His  "revelations" 
were  of  a  startling  character.  He  declared  Free- 
masons to  be  worshippers  of  Satan,  and  for  about 
twelve  years  he  wrote  in  his  rapid,  gripping  style, 
of  the  relations  Freemasons  held  with  the  devil, 
of  their  shocking  rites  and  fiendish  sacrifices  in 
honor  of  the  King  of  Hell.  Very  cleverly,  he 
gave  an  historic  background  to  his  "revelations," 
accentuating  many  points  as  from  his  own  experi- 


4     SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

ence.  He  invented  characters,  such  as  the  notori- 
ous "Diana  Vaughan,"  a  woman  who  as  a  priest- 
ess of  Freemasonry,  saw  the  devils  themselves  and 
professed  to  have  been  married  to  one  and  car- 
ried off  by  him  to  his  kingdom.  His  imagination 
and  that  of  his  assistants  wandered  over  the  globe, 
placed  mystic  temples  in  Calcutta,  Charleston,  Na- 
ples, Washington,  and  other  places;  described 
ceremonies  with  Satan's  crew  in  a  chapel  in  Sin- 
gapore, in  the  Mammoth  Cave  in  Kentucky,  in 
labyrinths  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  the 
Rock  of  Gibraltar;  named  the  devils;  drew  de- 
tailed pictures  of  them ;  and  in  short,  perpetrated 
one  of  the  greatest  hoaxes  of  the  century.  He 
identified  Satanism  and  Freemasonry.  The  Ma- 
sons protested,  but  in  vain.  Leo  Taxil  was  in- 
vited to  the  anti-Masonic  Congress  at  Trent  in 
1896,  spoke  there,  and  was  welcomed  among  the 
high  ecclesiastics. 

No  evidence  was  offered.  Taxil's  pastry  was 
readily  swallowed,  and  the  clever  cook  became  a 
hero. 

For  twelve  years  Taxil  and  his  collaborators 
enjoyed  themselves.  Then  the  spell  was  broken. 
And  it  was  broken,  not  by  the  sudden  sense  of  the 
audience,  but  by  the  action  of  one  of  the  wizards. 
C.  Hacks,  a  German  whose  pen-name  was  Dr.  Ba- 
taille,  one  of  Taxil's  assistants,  the  author  of  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE     5 

immense  work,  "The  Devil  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," profusely  illustrated  with  drawings  that  in 
their  day  terrorized  but  now  amuse,  suddenly  pro- 
claimed his  complete  contempt  for  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  a  little  later  declared  the  whole  work 
a  gigantic  swindle. 

Leo  Taxil,  however,  was  not  so  eager  to  give 
up  the  source  of  entertainment  and  remuneration 
which  had  stood  him  in  good  stead  for  a  dozen 
years.  He  went  on  brazenly  for  a  few  months 
and  then  in  a  characteristically  theatrical  manner 
made  his  real  revelation.  He  announced  that,  at  a 
meeting  in  the  Geographical  Society's  rooms  in 
Paris,  he  would  produce  the  "Diana  Vaughan" 
whom  we  have  mentioned.  A  crowd  attended. 
Taxil  mounted  the  platform  alone.  He  then  very 
impudently  announced  that  the  "revelations"  so 
widely  scattered  by  the  press  were  but  a  fiction, 
a  romantic  fabrication,  or,  to  use  his  own  word,  a 
"mystification."  And  he  thanked  the  Catholic 
press  and  bishops  for  the  help  they  had  given  him. 

At  first  those  who  had  been  following  his  works 
would  not  believe  him.  They  accused  him  of  re- 
nouncing the  truth.  But  time  gradually  proved 
that  his  "revelations"  were  but  the  mystification 
he  asserted.  Yet,  even  today  there  are  those  who 
quote  Leo  Taxil. 

I  give  this  example  in  detail  to  show  how  easy 


6     SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

it  is  to  fool  people,  learned  and  unlearned.  And 
I  give  it  at  the  beginning  of  these  short  talks 
on  Spiritism  that  the  reader  may  keep  in  mind 
hereafter  this  brilliant,  gigantic  fraud.  I  do  not 
say  here,  and  I  shall  not  say  hereafter,  that  the 
so-called  spiritistic  phenomena  are  all  a  hoax.  I 
merely  wish  to  make  the  point  that  it  is  very  easy 
for  mortals,  even  in  great  numbers,  to  be  fooled. 
Taxil  has  taught  Catholics  a  lesson,  and  that 
lesson  v^e  must  not  forget  in  our  study  of  Spir- 
itism. We  must  be  on  our  guard.  We  must  be 
very  careful  not  to  take  the  word  of  non- Catholics, 
however  pretentious  is  the  scientific  authority  that 
pronounces  it,  when  that  word  touches  on  matters 
that  have  to  do  with  faith  and  endeavors  to  declare 
what  we  should  or  should  not  believe.  When  we 
are  at  war  we  are  prone  to  blame  the  enemy's 
intrigue  and  the  machinations  of  his  agents  for 
almost  every  unusual  mishap.  The  spiritual  strug- 
gle for  the  salvation  of  our  souls  is  a  warfare. 
We  should  take  care  that  we,  too,  under  such  con- 
ditions, do  not  blame  the  devil  for  everything. 

Satan  is  one  of  our  enemies.  But  also  arra3^ed 
against  us  are  our  own  passions  and  weaknesses, 
and  the  insidiousness  of  a  deceitful  world.  The 
devil  is  our  principal  enemy,  the  master  mind  that 
tries  with  all  the  resources  at  his  command  to  lead 
us  to  perdition.    In  his  fight  against  man  he  is  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE     7 

moral  agent  of  disaster,  and  sometimes  the  phys- 
ical agent,  as  in  the  cases  of  obsession  and  posses- 
sion. He  is  the  "ape  of  God,"  to  use  St.  Augus- 
tine's words,  and  he  mimics  in  his  plans  the  Provi- 
dence of  God.  As  God  uses  secondary  causes  to 
direct  our  steps  heavenward,  and  seldom  performs 
miracles,  so  the  devil  uses  secondary  causes,  and 
rarely  exercises  his  direct  power.  Hence  we  must 
be  careful  not  to  confuse  the  devil's  moral  influ- 
ence in  our  daily  lives  with  his  physical  interfer- 
ence. Possession  of  our  bodies  is  not  necessary 
for  him  to  induce  us  to  sin. 

Yet  some  writers,  with  the  very  honest  desire 
of  making  us  avoid  every  semblance  of  evil,  por- 
tray the  devil  as  if  he  were  working  constantly 
against  us  in  a  physical  and  immediate  way.  An- 
ecdotes and  parables  are  an  excellent  instructive 
force.  But  they  are  but  anecdotes  and  parables, 
and  not  facts.  The  devil  can  and  may  interfere 
directly  and  physically.  But  a  very  careful  inves- 
tigation must  be  made  before  such  interference 
is  proclaimed  as  his.  Because  certain  phenomena 
are  inexplicable  it  does  not  follow  that  Satan  is 
personally  to  blame. 

With  these  few  thoughts  premised,  we  can  now 
proceed  to  a  more  intimate  study  of  our  subject. 


II 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  SPIRITISM 

THE  belief  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  can  com- 
municate in  a  sensible  way  with  souls  still  on 
earth  is  almost  as  old  as  man.  According  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Catholic  Church  it  is  certain  that 
such  communication  can  take  place  and  has  taken 
place.  But  that  this  communication  goes  on  pro- 
miscuously day  in  and  day  out;  that  the  souls  of 
the  dead  are  hovering  about  the  earth  tipping  ta- 
bles, rapping  on  walls,  playing  tambourines,  mov- 
ing hands  to  write,  materializing,  superintending 
the  messages  of  the  ouija  board,  levitating  heavy 
objects;  that  these  souls  come  not  spontaneously 
but  at  the  bidding  of  earthly  agents;  that  these 
souls  are  repeatedly  imparting  information  the 
great  mass  of  which  is  trite,  inapposite,  nonsen- 
sical, and  often  blasphemous;  that  they  dictate 
instructions  often  contradictory,  nearly  always 
vague  and  confused;  that  these  souls,  further- 
more, are  working  for  agents  whose  motives  are 
usually  mercenary,  and  sometimes  even  vile  .  .  . 

8 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE     9 

that  such  and  similar  activities  have  anything  to 
do  with  genuine  communication  with  the  dead  is 
not  merely  doubtful  but  altogether  unwarranted 
by  fact,  as  I  shall  try  to  show  in  the  following 
pages. 

Spiritism,  scientifically  speaking,  is  the  hy- 
pothesis that  through  the  mediumship  of  persons 
of  a  peculiar  and  special  sensitiveness,  the  dead 
can  communicate  with  us.  Spiritism  as  a  religion 
is  the  system  of  beliefs  based  on  this  hypothesis. 

Spiritism  as  a  religion  first  made  its  appearance 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  It  began  with 
the  demonstrations  of  the  famous  Fox  sisters. 
The  mother  of  these  girls,  whose  history  I  shall 
sketch  later,  heard  ''mysterious  rappings"  in  her 
home.  The  fame  of  her  discovery  spread  quickly 
throughout  the  neighborhood. 

*1  asked  the  noises  to  rap  my  children's  ages 
successively,"  said  Mrs.  Fox,  telling  of  the  first 
experience.  'Tnstantly,  each  one  of  my  chil- 
dren's ages  was  given  correctly,  pausing  be- 
tween them  sufficiently  long  to  individualize 
them  until  the  seventh,  at  which  a  longer  pause 
was  made,  and  then  three  more  emphatic  raps 
were  given,  corresponding  to  the  age  of  the 
little  child  that  died,  which  was  my  youngest 
child.  I  then  asked,  Ts  this  a  human  being 
that  answers  my  questions  so  correctly  ?'  There 
was  no  rap.     I  asked:  Ts  it  a  spirit?     If  so. 


10  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

make  two  raps,'  which  were  instantly  given  as 
soon  as  the  request  was  made.  .  .  ." 

The  mother's  narrative  goes  on  into  more  de- 
tail. But  that  was  the  beginning.  Neighbors 
were  called  in.  It  was  decided  that  the  Fox  chil- 
dren had  unusual  powers  of  communication.  They 
were  called  here  and  there  to  give  demonstrations. 
The  press  took  up  their  work.  And  the  world 
wildly  seized  this  excellent  opportunity  to  be  hum- 
bugged. 

So  much  for  the  beginnings.  I  am  now  going 
to  quote  to  some  extent  from  a  book,  "The  Death 
Blow  to  Spiritualism,"  by  Reuben  B.  Davenport. 
The  book  is  published  with  a  facsimile  of  a  letter 
from  two  of  the  Fox  sisters,  signed  by  them  and 
authorizing  Davenport's  work  and  giving  him  full 
permission  to  use  the  data  supplied  by  them.  It 
is  a  book  of  revelations. 

"The  'rappings'  produced  by  the  'Fox  sis- 
ters' are  certainly  the  first  of  which  there  is  an 
authentic  account.  They  began  in  a  little  rustic 
cottage  at  a  place  called  Hydesville,  in  the  town 
of  Arcadia,  near  Newark,  Wayne  County,  New 
York.  Here  John  D.  Fox  and  his  wife,  Mar- 
garet, dwelt  with  their  two  daughters,  Mar- 
garet and  Catherine.  Two  other  children,  Ann 
Leah  and  David  S.,  lived  elsewhere. 

"Margaretta,  or  Margaret  Fox,  as  she  al- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    ii 

ways  signs  herself,  was  born  in  the  year  1840, 
and  Catherine  Fox  a  year  and  a  half  later. 

''Maggie  and  Katie  Fox  were  as  full  of  petty 
devilment  as  any  two  children  of  their  age  ever 
were.  They  delighted  to  tease  their  excellent  old 
mother,  who,  by  all  who  knew  her,  is  described 
as  simple,  gentle,  and  true-hearted.  In  their 
antics  they  would  resort  to  all  sorts  of  ingenious 
devices,  and  bedtime  witnessed  almost  invari- 
ably the  gayest  of  larks."  ("The  Death  Blow 
to  Spiritualism,"  p.  81  et  seq.) 

In  the  year  1847  Mrs.  Fox  began  to  hear  the 
mysterious  raps.  Then  the  Fox  sisters  became 
famous  mediums,  giving  seances  in  America  and 
Europe — and  modern  Spiritism  was  begun.  In 
1888,  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane,  one  of  the  sis- 
ters, made  the  following  confession  in  a  New 
York  paper  of  that  year.  Herein  she  blames  her 
older  sister,  Mrs.  Fish,  twenty-three  years  her 
senior,  for  having  led  her  into  the  practice  of 
Spiritism. 

"When  Spiritualism  first  began,  Kate  and  I 
were  little  children,  and  this  old  woman,  my 
other  sister,  made  us  her  tools.  Mother  was  a 
silly  woman.  She  was  a  fanatic.  I  call  her 
that  because  she  was  honest.  She  believed  in 
these  things.  Spiritualism  started  from  just 
nothing.  We  were  but  innocent  little  children. 
What  did  we  know?  .  .  ."  (lb.  p.  36.) 


12  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

"I  knew,  of  course,  then,"  she  says,  at  a  later 
date,  "that  every  effect  produced  by  us  was  ab- 
solute fraud.  Why,  I  have  explored  the  un- 
known as  far  as  human  will  can.  I  have  gone 
to  the  dead  so  that  I  might  get  from  them  some 
little  token.  Nothing  ever  came  of  it — nothing, 
nothing."     (lb.,  p.  37.) 

Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken,  the  other  of  the 
younger  sisters,  soon  after  sustained  Mrs.  Kane 
in  her  denunciation. 

"Spiritualism  is  a  humbug  from  beginning 
to  end.  It  is  the  greatest  humbug  of  the  cen- 
tury .  .  .  Maggie  and  I  started  it  as  very  lit- 
tle children,  too  young,  too  innocent,  to  know 
what  we  were  doing.  Our  sister  Leah  was 
twenty-three  years  older  than  either  of  lis.  We 
got  started  in  the  way  of  deception,  and  being 
encouraged  in  it,  we  went  on,  of  course  .  .  ." 
(lb.,  p.  57.) 

On  the  2 1  St  of  October,  1888,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Fox  Kane  first  fulfilled  her  intention  of  publicly 
denouncing  Spiritism  and  its  attendant  trickery. 
She  appeared  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  New 
York  and  before  a  large  audience  demonstrated 
the  method  she  had  used  in  producing  the  strange 
"rappings." 

"I  am  here  tonight,"  she  declared  from  the 
platform,  "as  one  of  the  founders  of  Spiritual- 
ism, to  denounce  it  as  an  absolute  falsehood 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    13 

from  beginning  to  end,  as  the  flimsiest  of  su- 
perstitions, the  most  wicked  blasphemy  known 
to  the  world."    (lb.,  p.  76.) 

Here  is  a  part  of  the  account  of  her  demon- 
stration, from  the  New  York  World  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning: 

"A  plain  wooden  stool  or  table,  resting  upon 
four  short  legs,  and  having  the  properties  of  a 
sounding  board,  was  placed  in  front  of  her. 
Removing  her  shoe,  she  placed  her  right  foot 
upon  this  table.  The  entire  house  became 
breathlessly  still,  and  was  rewarded  by  a  num- 
ber of  short,  sharp  raps — those  mysterious 
sounds  which  have  for  more  than  forty  years 
frightened  and  bewildered  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  people  in  this  country  and  Europe.  A 
committee,  consisting  of  three  physicians  taken 
from  the  audience,  then  ascended  to  the  stage, 
and  having  made  an  examination  of  her  foot 
during  the  progress  of  the  'rappings,'  unhesi- 
tatingly agreed  that  the  sounds  were  made  by 
the  action  of  the  first  joint  of  her  large  toe." 
(lb.,  p.  77.) 

Mrs.  Kane  explained  afterwards  how  she  and 
her  sister  first  began  their  "rappings"  by  drop- 
ping apples  suspended  by  a  string  out  of  their  beds 
and  thus  producing  a  dull  thud  on  the  floor. 
When  anyone  came  near  they  quickly  pulled  the 
apples  back  under  cover. 


14  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

".  .  .  we  first  got  the  idea  of  producing  with 
the  joints  similar  sounds  to  those  we  had  made 
by  dropping  apples  with  a  string.  From  trying 
it  with  our  fingers  we  then  tried  it  with  our 
feet,  and  it  did  not  take  long  for  us  to  find  out 
that  we  could  easily  produce  very  loud  raps  by 
the  action  of  the  toe- joints  when  in  contact  with 
any  substance  which  is  a  good  conductor  of 
sound.  My  sister  Katie  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover that  we  could  make  such  peculiar  noises 
with  our  toes.  We  used  to  practice  first  with 
one  foot  and  then  the  other,  and  finally  we  got 
so  we  could  do  it  with  hardly  an  efifort."  (lb., 
p.  90.) 

Thus  was  born  the  famous  cult  that  has  held 
the  stage  with  varying  degrees  of  popularity  for 
half  a  century  and  in  these  days  has  attracted  the 
"scientific  mind."  Of  this  mind  I  shall  speak  at 
more  length  later.  For  the  present  I  am  not  ques- 
tioning whether  the  Fox  sisters  developed  facul- 
ties dififerent  from  those  exercised  in  the  manipu- 
lating of  toe-joints,  or  whether  mediums  today 
have  powers  which  were  not  employed  in  the 
methods  of  these  sisters.  I  want  to  show  clearly 
that  Spiritism  originated  with  a  fraud,  that  the 
phenomena  for  the  explanation  of  which  the 
hypothesis  of  Spiritism  was  put  forward  were 
produced  purely  by  trickery.  I  want  to  bring  out 
that  Spiritism,  in  the  case  of  the  Fox  sisters, 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    15 

started  with  a  humbug  that  would  have  delighted 
Leo  Taxil.  It  is  an  hypothesis  not  excogitated  by 
the  genius  of  a  Newton,  but  by  a  frightened 
mother  to  explain  the  very  ordinary  antics  of  her 
children* 


Ill 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  OBSERVER 

IT  is  frequently  said:  "Spiritism  has  Science  to 
back  it  up."  Just  exactly  what  that  means  is 
very  hard  to  determine.  It  certainly  does  not 
mean  that  science  as  represented  by  its  academies 
and  universities  has  declared  the  hypothesis  of 
Spiritism  lifted  to  the  dignity  of  fact.  Nor  does 
it  mean  that  a  number  of  men  who  have  the  right 
to  be  called  scientists  have  declared  for  the  same 
belief.  It  may  mean  that  some  men  of  good  stand- 
ing have,  in  a  genuinely  scientific  spirit,  examined 
it.  Or  it  may  mean  that  two  or  three  men  who 
rank  high  in  some  particular  branch  of  science 
have  declared  in  favor  of  the  hypothesis.  In  this 
last  case  there  is  at  least  something  definite.  It 
means,  for  example,  that  a  well-established  chem- 
ist and  a  well-established  physicist  have  investi- 
gated spiritistic  phenomena  and  proclaimed  Spirit- 
ism a  very  credible  hypothesis  or  pronounced 
that  "there  is  something  in  it."  Why  their  au- 
thority on  chemistry  or  physics  should  be  trans- 
ferred to  quite  a  different  sphere  and  considered 

I6 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    17 

authoritative  in  regard  to  Spiritism  is  a  little 
mystifying.  Such  a  conclusion  would  seem  to 
imply  that  because  a  man  knows  much  on  one 
subject  he  knows  much  also  on  another  subject. 
And  why  this  transferred  authority  should  estab- 
lish that  "Spiritism  has  Science  to  back  it  up"  is 
too  much  for  my  humble  intelligence. 

"This  is  an  Age  of  Science" — to  borrow  the 
phrase  of  the  Sunday  supplements.  The  work  of 
science  in  the  past  fifty  years  has  been  little  short 
of  marvelous.  Patient,  careful  work,  illuminated 
at  intervals  by  flashes  of  brilliant  genius,  has 
added  enormously  to  the  sum  of  human  knowl- 
edge. 

Men,  however,  with  little  training  and  less  men- 
tal equipment  have  strutted  before  the  populace 
with  stolen  prestige  and  pronounced  themselves 
scientists.  Oh,  the  credulous  people  again  .  .  .! 
Admiration  became  adulation.  The  crowd,  as  it 
always  does,  "slopped  over" — to  use  a  vulgar  but 
effective  phrase,  and  accepted  these  professors 
with  large  letters  after  their  names  as  authorities 
not  only  in  the  work  to  which  they  had  devoted 
their  ordinary  abilities,  but  in  all  things  on  the 
earth  and  above  and  underneath  it.  Especially 
have  they  dogmatized  on  religion.  The  crowd 
at  the  end  of  the  last  century  listened  to  them  with 
such  earnestness  that  it  still  sedulously  believes 


i8  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

them,  even  though  the  hypotheses  on  which  they 
built  their  teachings  have  gone  up  in  smoke. 

To  these  pseudo-scientists — you  can  find  their 
ideas  yet  among  you,  on  the  lecture  platform,  in 
newspapers,  books  and  pamphlets — I  will  give  no 
more  attention.  Let  me  mention  only  the  late 
Professor  Hyslop  of  Columbia  University,  who, 
while  far  above  them  in  mental  power,  was  a  fol- 
lower of  their  methods.  Though  a  professor  of 
logic  and  ethics,  he  was  caught  up  in  the  same 
boastful  spirit  that  encouraged  careless  thought 
and  downright  inaccuracy.  In  his  book  on  Spir- 
itism, ''Contact  with  the  Other  World,"  he  tells, 
for  example,  how  "Copernican  astronomy  estab- 
lished the  falsity  of  one  of  the  fundamental  tenets 
of  the  Church"  (p.  462).  He  goes  on  to  show 
how  the  discoveries  of  Copernicus  and  Galileo 
were  preludes  to  "the  final  overthrow  of  ecclesi- 
astical domination"  (p.  463).  And  then,  in  his 
usual  apodictic  manner,  he  declares  ".  .  .  this 
new  astronomy  gave  impetus  to  the  curiosity 
which  led  to  the  theory  of  Columbus  that  land 
should  be  found  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth," 
and  ".  .  .  the  discovery  of  the  new  world  was 
only  another  result  of  the  initial  conception  of 
Copernicus"  (p.  463).  Tremendous  reasoning,  is 
it  not  ?    Shattering  and  overwhelming  .  .  .  when 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    19 

one  remembers  that  in  1492  Copernicus  was  a  boy 
of  19  years  and  Galileo  was  not  born. 

In  other  words,  Galileo,  who  was  to  come  some 
seventy  years  later  (Galileo  was  born  in  1564) 
and  Copernicus,  who  was  a  toddling  infant  when 
Columbus  conceived  his  idea  and  a  boy  when  he 
put  it  into  action  (Copernicus  was  born  in  1473) 
were  to  overthrow  "ecclesiastical  domination" 
with  their  "new  astronomy"  and  furnish  Colum- 
bus with  the  theory  and  impetus  that  led  him  to 
discover  the  new  world.  Such  reasoning  from  a 
professor  of  logic  might  amuse,  did  one  not  see 
so  obviously  the  motive  behind  the  falsification. 
And  yet.  Professor  Hyslop,  for  a  large  number 
of  people,  has  been  for  years  the  last  word  on 
Spiritism. 

I  shall  now  leave  pretenders  and  pseudo-scien- 
tists. Hereafter  when  I  speak  of  scientists,  I  re- 
fer to  those  men  of  deep  knowledge,  gained  and 
verified  by  exact  observation  and  correct  think- 
ing, whose  work  and  authority  in  at  least  one  sub- 
ject entitle  them  to  consideration.  Sir  William 
Crookes,  for  example,  is  an  excellent  authority  in 
chemistry.  When  he  speaks  of  chemistry  all  do 
well  to  listen.  It  takes  a  man  of  the  calibre  of 
Berthelot  to  call  either  his  reasoning  or  his  facts 
into  question.  But  when  he  speaks  on  moral  or 
religious  matters  the  situation  is  different.    His 


20  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

carefulness  and  superb  work  in  chemistry  demand 
that  we  give  him  our  attention,  but  by  no  means 
our  credence.  I  have  already  mentioned  one  rea- 
son why  this  is  so:  because  a  man  knows  much 
about  one  subject  and  its  correlated  branches,  it 
in  no  way  follows  that  he  knows  as  much  about 
a  subject  that  is  altogether  different.  His  knowl- 
edge of  the  former  subject  is  more  apt  to  be  a 
hindrance  than  a  help.  It  is  true  that  he  brings 
to  his  new  studies  one  excellent  preparation:  his 
mastery  of  the  scientific  method  of  exact  observa- 
tion and  careful  thinking.  And  yet,  paradoxical 
though  it  sounds,  when  it  comes  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  spiritistic  phenomena,  it  is  this  prepara- 
tion and,  indeed,  his  whole  training,  that  allows 
him  to  be  fooled,  and  to  be  fooled  much  more  eas- 
ily than  alert  men  of  ordinary  common  sense.  For 
here  a  factor  insignificant  in,  or  entirely  absent 
from,  his  scientific  investigations,  looms  big.  The 
"human  element"  enters  into  the  equation.  Just 
why  the  careful  scientist  is  so  easily  misled  in  his 
study  of  the  devious  ways  of  Spiritism  I  shall  try 
to  show  in  the  pages  that  follow. 

First  of  all,  one  must  clearly  understand  that  a 
fact  is  not  a  theory;  and  an  hypothesis  is  not  a 
theory.  An  hypothesis  is  merely  a  supposition 
that  is  advanced  as  a  temporary  explanation.  Suf- 
ficient evidence  may  show  that  it  works  as  a  rule, 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   21 

that  it  explains  the  observed  facts  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  instances;  in  which  case  it  is  called  a  the- 
ory. Many  good  scientists  are  merely  observers 
and  tabulators  of  facts.  Only  a  few  can  formu- 
late suppositions  for  the  explaining  of  the  facts. 
And  it  is  only  a  rare  man  who  can  develop  a  good 
working  theory.  Countless  are  the  laborers  who 
can  gather  bricks  for  the  House  of  Science,  nu- 
merous are  the  masons  who  can  put  them  to- 
gether, but  few  indeed  are  the  architects  who  can 
conceive  a  plan  that  shall  join  them  all  in  harmony 
and  truth. 

There  are  two  things  to  remember :  first,  while 
many  are  good  at  observing,  very  few  are  good  at 
explaining  correctly ;  and  secondly,  those  few  who 
can  formulate  acceptable  hypotheses  and  theories 
upon  their  own  subjects  can  very,  very  rarely  do 
the  same  upon  a  subject  that  is  outside  their  field. 

At  this  point  I  think  it  would  be  well  to  quote 
the  words  of  a  well-known  scientist  in  regard 
to  the  danger  of  accepting  hypotheses  and  theories 
as  infallible  explanations  of  the  facts : 

''These  constant  changes  of  opinion — and  in 
our  own  time  we  have  seen  several  of  extraor- 
dinary significance — ought  to  teach  us  another 
lesson,  the  greatest  that  science  can  teach,  and 
that  is  humility.  If  a  hundred  times  things 
have  been  put  forward  as  the  last  revelation  of 


22   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

science  and  if  on  ninety-nine  subsequent  occa- 
sions it  has  been  found  that  the  supposed  reve- 
lation was  only  a  dream,  let  us  on  the  one  hun- 
dred and  first  occasion  have  the  humility  to  say 
— as  indeed  most  of  the  real  framers  of  hy- 
potheses have  said:  'This  is  a  possible  explana- 
tion of  the  facts  to  hand;  let  us  see  how  it 
will  fit  in  with  later  discoveries.'  It  is  abun- 
dantly clear  that  we  are  not  familiar  with  any- 
thing but  the  fringe  of  science.  Facts  of  all 
kinds  are  yet  awaiting  discovery,  and  when  dis- 
covered it  may  be  found  that  they  upset  some 
of  our  most  cherished  beliefs,  as  radium  did." 
("The  Church  and  Science,"  ed.  1920,  p.  406, 
Sir  Bertram  C.  A.  Windle,  M.A.,  M.D.,  Sc.D., 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  etc.). 

Now,  why  is  the  scientist  prone  to  be  misled 
in  his  inquiry  into  the  phenomena  of  Spiritism  ? 

A  man  of  science  is  accustomed  to  laws  of  na- 
ture that  are  constant  and  to  apparatus  that  is  re- 
liable and  exact.  In  his  scientific  investigations 
he  is  not  accustomed  to  count  upon  human  malice 
and  fraudulent  skill.  So  it  happens  that  great 
scientists  are  often  like  mere  children  in  the  oc- 
currences of  daily  life.  Furthermore,  the  scien- 
tist always  tries  to  observe  the  phenomena  on  each 
occasion  under  exactly  the  same  conditions. 
Finally,  he  is  alert  for  an  explanation  that  will  be 
scientific. 

Attend,  let  us  suppose,  a  seance  with  a  scientific 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  23 

observer.  The  medium  is  a  woman.  Immediately 
we  see  that  the  phenomena  to  be  investigated  are 
not  the  phenomena  of  a  chemical  reaction  or  of 
an  experiment  with  light,  or  of  any  ordinary  sci- 
entific test.  Besides,  we  remember  that  the  "ap- 
paratus" is  not  mechanical,  but  human  and  of  ex- 
treme sensibility — the  medium.  With  her,  let  us 
say,  is  her  chaperon.  Of  course — not  only  to  help 
her  in  her  trances  but  to  be  on  hand  for  an  emer- 
gency and  to  protect  her.  She  is  working  among 
men  and  must  undergo  investigation.  Surely  a 
chaperon  can  be  admitted.  Mr.  Scientific  Ob- 
server is  agreeable. 

Several  doctors  and  men  of  science  examine  the 
medium.  The  examination  is  scientifically  com- 
plete. There  is  no  examination  of  the  room  made, 
for  it  is  the  home  of  Mr.  Scientific  Observer. 
The  positions  of  each  observer  and  of  the  chap- 
eron are  scientifically  arranged.  Dressed  in  tight- 
fitting  clothes  furnished  and  scientifically  exam- 
ined by  Mr.  S.  O.,  the  medium  enters  the  cabinet 
and  draws  together  the  curtains.  The  light,  as 
requested  by  the  medium,  is  red,  and  shades  all 
with  a  sort  of  penumbra  as  in  a  photographer's 
developing  room.  That  too  is  but  scientific.  Can 
you  develop  a  photographic  plate  in  full  light? 
No.  Neither  can  the  medium  her  powers.  It 
must  be  dark.     She  is,  besides,  as  sensitive  as  a 


24  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

bromide  plate,  and  any  strong  light  may  bring  on 
a  sudden  faint  or  hurt  her  for  future  experiments. 
Mr.  S.  O.  very  scientifically  observes  all  the  con- 
ditions. 

Near  the  red  light  is  a  secretary  who  takes  notes 
of  even  the  most  trivial  happenings.  Then,  the 
medium  asks  them  to  sing.  The  vibratory  key  of 
the  investigators  must  be  at  least  similar  to  that 
of  the  medium.  Singing  is  one  of  the  simplest 
methods  of  obtaining  and  attuning  vibrations. 
They  begin  intoning  a  religious  hymn  in  low,  quiet 
voices.  There  is  a  strange  tenseness  in  the  air. 
The  extraordinary  manner  of  this  experiment,  no 
matter  how  often  repeated,  makes  one  thoughtful. 
What  may  not  come  from  the  Great  Unknown? 
.  .  .  Mr.  S.  O.,  however,  is  emotionless.  He  is 
not  impressionistic  to  such  effects.  He  sits  rigidly 
and  watches  with  the  care  that  has  always  marked 
his  investigations.  Let  us  glance  at  the  secre- 
tary's notes : 

At  8  p.  m.  medium  goes  to  cabinet  and  singing 
begins.  At  8 :05  they  are  still  singing ;  8  :og,  sobs 
are  heard  from  the  cabinet,  the  medium  is  moan- 
ing. "Margot,  Margot,"  cries  her  voice,  "come — 
hypnotize  me."  The  chaperon  goes  swiftly  to  the 
cabinet.  The  hypnosis  takes  but  a  minute.  The 
chaperon  returns  to  her  seat.  8:12,  medium  is 
breathing  more   quietly.     8:15,   medium   draws 


FATHER   HEREDIA   DEMONSTRATES   A   FAKED    MATERIALIZATION. 
(see  appendix   11 ) 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  25 

open  curtains  with  her  own  hands.  8:17,  a  vague 
white  spot  appears  over  the  head  of  the  medium. 
8:19,  the  blurred  spot  resembles  a  human  face. 
8 :20,  it  is  a  face.  At  understood  signal  from  me- 
dium three  swift  flash-light  photographs  are 
taken.  8:23,  Mr.  S.  O.  puts  in  new  plates.  8:25, 
medium  calls  faintly  for  help.  "Margot!  Mar- 
got  !"  she  cries.  The  chaperon  hastens  to  the  cabi- 
net. 8:26,  leaning  on  the  chaperon,  exhausted 
and  half-dazed,  the  medium  leaves  the  cabinet. 
8:28,  cabinet  is  thoroughly  searched.  Medium 
also  undergoes  another  examination.  Result  neg- 
ative.   Nothing  is  found  on  medium  or  in  cabinet. 

The  seance  is  over.  The  plates  are  developed. 
Tiny  face  of  a  woman  is  visible  over  medium's 
head. 

It  has  been  a  strictly  scientific  experiment.  All 
precautions  possible  have  been  taken.  There  is 
only  one  conclusion:  the  medium  is  a  real  mate- 
rializing medium.  The  materialization  of  a  face 
visible  to  the  eye  and  caught  by  the  camera  is  an 
effect  of  mediumistic  powers.  The  medium's  ecto- 
plasm brought  about  the  materialization.  The 
existence  of  the  ectoplasm  is  the  only  possible  ex- 
planation. The  proof  is  scientific.  The  experi- 
ment is  conclusive. 

However,  with  the  pardon  of  Mr.  Scientific  Ob- 
server, we  will  analyze  the  experiment.     There 


26  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

happens  to  be  another  way  of  looking  at  the  affair. 

The  chaperon  is  a  confederate  of  the  medium. 
Inside  of  a  specially  made  comb,  the  medium  very 
cleverly  conceals  a  piece  of  muslin  which  forms 
the  material  of  the  materialization.  The  chaperon 
conceals  in  her  handkerchief,  which  is  a  double 
one,  more  material  for  a  materialization.  In  case 
of  necessity  she  offers  it  to  the  medium — the  me- 
dium is  perspiring,  of  course.  When  she  has 
used  it — just  for  a  minute,  you  know — she  returns 
it  to  her  chaperon.  The  medium  while  in  the  cabi- 
net fixes  above  her  head  the  materialised  muslin 
face.  Lo,  when  she  draws  the  curtains  wide  the 
materialization  appears.  The  camera  catches  the 
face  before  it  vanishes — as  it  does  when  the  chap- 
eron goes  to  the  cabinet.  Thus  we  have  an  ex- 
traordinary case  of  materialization. 

Mr.  S.  O.  is  well  pleased.  He  has  enjoyed  for 
some  years  no  petty  reputation  as  a  biologist.  He 
writes  an  article  on  his  experiment.  Is  not  his 
word  sufficient  that  every  scientific  precaution  has 
been  taken  ?  Perhaps  a  friend  laughs  at  him.  For 
a  moment  he  doubts,  we  may  imagine.  Then  he 
has  a  picture  of  himself  before  the  eyes  of  the 
neighborhood  and  beyond,  as  a  man  of  reputation 
fooled  by  a  clever  woman.  No,  no.  He  sticks  to 
his  conclusion.  There  are  more  experiments  and 
more  conclusions.    He  publishes  a  book,  with  data 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  27 

listed  carefully,  with  pages  carefully  annotated, 
with  many  quotations  from  other  investigators, 
with  photographs,  and  with  a  few  touches  of  fine 
writing  here  and  there  (which,  to  be  sure,  is  par- 
donable), a  little  philosophizing,  a  paragraph  or 
two  about  idealism,  and  at  the  end  a  few  short, 
terse,  simple  words — for  such  is  his  scientific  way 
— on  ''Hope  Revived." 

The  book  is  well  received.  The  worst  review  is 
but  non-committal.  The  various  experiments  he 
describes — without,  of  course,  our  analyses — be- 
come somewhat  famous.  Many  writers  on  Spirit- 
ism who,  unlike  our  scientist,  have  never  been  near 
a  medium,  quote  these  experiments  and  extend  the 
interpretation.  Edition  after  edition  appears  and 
the  medium  becomes  famous.  Her  name  is  whis- 
pered with  respect  even  by  those  who  have  no  in- 
terest in  Spiritism.  The  phenomena  are  scien- 
tifically recorded.  You  may  have  your  own  inter- 
pretation— but  you  may  not  laugh.  Laugh  as  you 
desire  at  the  miracles  of  Lourdes,  for  instance, 
but  not  at  the  work  of  our  scientific  observer. 

For  some  time  there  was  a  scarcity  of  books  on 
Spiritism.  But  those  well-nigh  countless  men  who 
make  their  living  by  writing  pamphlets  and  small 
books  on  the  "question  of  the  hour"  soon  relieved 
the  situation.  As  in  time  of  famine  people  are  not 
squeamish  about  the  food  they  get,  so  thousands; 


28  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

here  and  in  Europe  devoured  whatever  they  could 
lay  their  hands  upon  concerning  Spiritism,  al- 
though it  proved  the  veriest  trash.  And  as  bad 
food  invariably  helps  to  spread  an  epidemic,  this 
silly,  unreliable  literature  has  done  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  augment  the  spirit-mania  of  these 
last  years.  I  do  not  exaggerate.  On  my  desk  and 
around  it,  there  is  heaped  a  mass  of  evidence  as 
flimsy  and  allegations  as  ridiculous  as  ever  were 
gathered  to  uphold  any  wild  supposition  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  I  consider  all  psy- 
chical phenomena  ludicrous  or  easily  explained. 
There  are  some  very  interesting  aspects  of  this 
new  study  to  which  I  shall  come  later.  A  human 
being  is  different  from  a  lens  or  a  mathematical 
problem.  It  has  a  soul,  and  a  study  of  the  soul's 
strange  powers  leads  one  to  the  entrance  of  an 
unexplored  world,  at  the  edge  of  which  we  stand 
expectant,  waiting  for  him  who  shall  first  dis- 
close its  riches.  Nor  must  it  be  thought  that  I  am 
ridiculing  all  scientific  investigation.  On  the  con- 
trary, sensible,  cool-headed,  resourceful  scientific 
investigation  is  the  one  effort  needed  to  prick 
many  bubbles  hovering  over  us.  Until  very  lately, 
materials  carefully  gathered  and  disinterestedly 
put  forth  have  been  almost  entirely  lacking,  but 
in  the  past  years  better  work  has  been  done. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  29 

If,  in  the  experiment  given  in  detail  above — 
which,  by  the  way,  is  a  transcription  of  an  actual 
experiment — the  scientific  observer  had  engaged 
one  of  the  matrons  from  the  Customs  House  to 
search  carefully  both  medium  and  chaperon,  if  he 
had,  regardless  of  the  fainting  proclivities  of  the 
medium,  turned  on  a  brilliant  white  light  during 
the  experiment,  I,  for  one,  would  have  given  much 
more  heed  to  his  conclusion.  But  these  scientific 
observers  of  spiritistic  phenomena  seem  to  be  soft- 
hearted fellows,  a  little  out  of  place  at  a  seance, 
where  they  tiptoe  about  gently,  not  to  err  against 
propriety.  In  their  works  they  list  the  precau- 
tions taken,  and  usually  you  find  that  the  precau- 
tions are  analogous  to  those  they  would  take  with 
a  piece  of  mechanical  apparatus.  The  subject  calls 
for  real  scientists,  long  experienced  in  handling 
the  human  problem,  who  can  gather  facts,  not 
weave  fancies  and  suppositions,  who  can  present 
those  facts  in  a  straightforward,  unbiased  fash- 
ion. If,  at  last, — and  there  is  hope  of  it  now — 
sufficient,  well-founded  information  can  be  gath- 
ered, then  it  will  be  possible  to  frame  trustworthy 
explanations. 


IV 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE   MEDIUM 

MEDIUMS  may  not  be  the  "best  class  of  peo- 
ple," but  they  certainly  are  a  clever,  indus- 
trious class  of  people.  The  "greatest  magician  in 
the  world,"  who  used  to  hire  the  town  hall,  the 
sleight-of-hand-man  who  with  his  sleeves  rolled 
up,  entertained  at  the  whist  club,  even  the  old 
fortune-teller  with  the  shrewd  eye,  who  would 
read  your  palm  and  pry  the  secrets  from  her 
greasy  cards  for  half  a  dollar,  all  are  gone.  The 
world  moves  on.  Now  we  have  scattered  across 
the  country  "M.  So-and-So.  Famous  Medium." 
Thousands  of  them  everywhere,  with  full  equip- 
ment, eager  to  summon  souls  to  converse  and  per- 
form for  a  price  that  is  judiciously  adapted  to  your 
gullibility  and  the  size  of  your  pocketbook.  Alas, 
that  the  poor  gypsy  with  her  tattered  shawl  has 
gone!  There  was  something  picturesque  about 
her,  something  romantic,  something  in  her  wiles 
and  wariness  that  was  obvious  and  moved  your 
heart.     But  these  new  establishments,  most  of 

them  gaudy  places  with  heavy  hangings  and  dim 

30 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   31 

lights,  pretending  in  atmosphere  and  decoration  to 
orientalism  or  some  exoticism,  fill  one  with  a 
strange  disgust.  They  prey  on  the  most  sacred 
memories  of  man.  There  one  never  finds  the 
gusto  of  the  wizard  of  the  fair,  the  gaiety  of  the 
side  show.  People  want  to  be  mystified.  They 
crave  humbug.  But  it  seems  too  bad  to  feed  them 
in  this  way,  to  capitalize  their  love  for  their  dead 
and  their  yearning  for  immortality. 

These  mediums  are  organized.  They  are  con- 
stantly on  the  look-out  for  new  devices  and  for 
new  methods  of  "communication."  They  have 
writers  and  a  press.  They  take  up  the  cudgels 
against  those  who  oppose  them.  Few  of  them  are 
honest.  Those  few  may  have  some  abnormal  de- 
velopment, as,  for  instance,  an  ability  to  go  into 
an  actual  trance,  or  a  feeble  telepathic  power, 
which  they  capitalize.  The  others  are  downright 
fakers.  I  refer  to  the  so-called  "pay-mediums"; 
or,  to  use  another  phrase,  "public  mediums,"  the 
people  who  put  the  room  in  darkness  and  flash 
phosphorescent  drawings  before  strained  eyes; 
the  people  who  give  to  pathetic  creatures  card- 
boards with  rings  of  crudely-painted  flowers  on 
which  is  written  "From  Mother" ;  the  people  who 
sell  double  exposures  as  "spirit  photographs." 

I  have  a  circular  of  a  "school  of  mediumship" 
before  me  on  my  desk.    It  reads : 


32   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Alfred  Benzon — Modern  Spiritualistic  Phenomena 

Complete  Course 

Initiation  Fee — $i,ooo  (one  thousand  dollars) 

Consists  of  the  following  effects: 

Slate  Writing $350.00  Materialization  .  ...$300.00 

Cabinet  Seance   . .  .   250.00  Ballot  Tests 200.00 

Trumpet  Seance  -. .    150.00  Vase  of  Isis 100.00 

Spirit  Photography.     50.00  Rope  Tying 25.00 

I  presume  the  initiation  fee  is  high  to  insure 
that  you  will  do  no  talking — at  least,  until  you 
have  made  some  profit.  And  then  it  is  very  im- 
probable that  you  will  desire  to  stop  your  income. 
No,  after  a  $1,000  payment  you  will  hold  on  to 
whatever  secrets  you  obtain.  Everybody  is  not 
lucky  enough  to  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  such 
a  high-class  education.  Many  poor  mediums  have 
to  struggle  along  and  use  their  own  wits. 

There  is  another  type  of  medium,  however, 
known  as  "private."  These  mediums  oftentimes 
have  unusual  powers.  They  are  not  supposed  to 
"work  for  money."  They  work  a  great  deal  for 
purposes  of  psychical  research,  for  the  advance- 
ment of  science.  They  may  not  take  fees,  but  as 
very  few  of  them  appear  to  be  wealthy  altruists, 
we  cannot  doubt  that  they  are  the  recipients  of 
gifts,  and  now  and  then  receive  rewards  for  their 
services.  There  is  no  reason  to  indicate  why  they 
should  spend  their  time  working  for  nothing,  un- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  33 

less  it  be  for  the  fun  they  have.  To  this  type  be- 
long the  famous  Mrs.  Piper,  Eusapia  Palladino 
and  the  present  "materialization  medium,"  Eva  C. 
We  shall  glance  at  the  psychology  of  both  types, 
and  thus  be  able  to  formulate  some  idea  of  what 
is  meant  by  the  word  "medium."    (See  Appendix 

II.) 

A  medium,  by  definition,  is  a  person  supposed 
to  be  qualified  in  some  special  manner  to  form  a 
link  between  the  living  and  the  dead.  When  de- 
pendent on  the  public  for  their  livelihood,  it  is  ob- 
vious that  the  most  appropriate  thing  for  them  to 
do,  is  to  please  the  public.  It  may  not  be  always 
ethical,  but  that  is  another  matter.  The  desires 
of  the  people  today  run  strong.  You  cannot 
amuse  them  with  the  old,  time-worn  tricks.  You 
cannot  startle  them  by  dropping  nickels  down 
your  sleeves.  A  public  medium  lives  on  the  fa- 
vor of  the  public.  She  must  eat,  I  suppose,  and 
dress,  and  have  a  place  to  sleep.  Often  she  has  a 
family.  She  must  have  money.  Suppose  (and 
this  is  a  far-fetched  supposition)  she  really  has 
some  power.  She  finds  clients  in  the  waiting- 
room,  and  yet  to  save  her  life  she  cannot  at  that 
moment  go  into  a  trance.  What  does  she  do? 
She  "fakes"  a  trance.  Not  once,  but  on  every 
occasion.  Then,  she  discovers  that  "Madame 
Somebody-or-other"  across  the  street  is  making 


34  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

more  money  by  introducing  new  apparatus  and 
new  "foolers."  She  imitates.  She  studies  the  fine 
points  of  fooling  the  public.  She  adopts  recog- 
nized methods.  Perhaps  she  invents  a  little 
scheme  of  her  own.  It  works.  It  means  more 
money.    So,  the  story  goes. 

Very  often  these  mediums  are  evil  women  in 
league  with  other  women  and  men.  They  go  into 
Spiritism  to  fleece  the  public.  They  stop  at  noth- 
ing. They  betray  every  trust.  Their  rooms  be- 
come more  than  offices  for  communication  with 
the  dead.  "Do  you  know  that  there  is  something 
behind  the  shadowy  mask  of  Spiritualism  that  the 
public  can  hardly  guess  at?"  asked  Mrs.  Margaret 
Fox  Kane,  one  of  the  Fox  sisters,  in  her  remorse. 
And  she  tells  what  the  public  can  hardly  guess  at, 
but  I  will  not  reprint  it  here.  ("The  Death  Blow 
to  Spiritualism,"  Davenport,  p.  50,  51.) 

Many  mediums,  on  the  other  hand,  start  in  the 
spirit  of  fun.^  They  begin  innocently  enough. 
In  rare  cases,  their  attempts  to  amuse  themselves 
and  others,  uncover  some  peculiar  faculties  in 
themselves,  for  instance,  an  ability  to  produce 
"raps."  But,  as  a  rule,  they  delight  their  sitters 
with  a  product  of  their  ingenuity,  or  with  a  trick 
that  is  "old  stufif"  for  one  who  has  been  follow- 
ing seances,  but  is  startling  for  those  who  have 

^  See  Appendix  I. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   35 

never  bothered  their  heads  about  the  matter., 
Such  is  the  tiny  "rapper"  in  the  shoe,  easily  di- 
rected by  the  toes  of  the  foot.  They  create  a  sen- 
sation in  a  circle  of  friends.  The  sensation 
spreads.  They  become  the  centre  of  much  inter- 
est. This  attention  delights  them.  Little  by  little 
they  continue  their  demonstrations,  adding  im- 
provements from  time  to  time  until  finally  they  be- 
come so  involved  that  confession  would  mean  dis- 
grace. Or,  they  discover,  that  with  little  labor 
they  can  provide  themselves  with  a  good  income. 
Seldom,  however,  do  they  feel  such  remorse  that, 
like  the  Fox  sisters,  they  proclaim  their  deceit. 

It  is  not  out  of  place  at  this  point  to  quote  a  few 
words  from  one  of  the  most  careful  of  the  inves- 
tigators of  psychical  phenomena : 

"I  need  hardly  say  that  if  money  be  the  chief 
and  only  object  of  the  medium's  ambition,  prac- 
tically no  experimental  work  can  be  done.  It  is 
a  matter  of  experience — my  experience,  any- 
way— that  the  medium  and  sitters  must  not  de- 
velop any  form  of  material  greed,  or  the  phe- 
nomena become  undependable  and  unreliable." 
("The  Reality  of  Psychic  Phenomena,"  19 19, 
W.  J.  Crawford,  D.Sc. ;  p.  4.) 

All  considerations,  but  particularly  those  of- 
fered us  by  famous  mediums  who  have  confessed 
their  fraud,  move  us  to  this  conclusion :  it  is  more 


36  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

difficult  for  a  medium,  even  if  she  possesses  some 
power,  not  to  deceive,  than  to  stop  her  deception 
after  she  has  practised  it  on  a  few  occasions. 

When  we  examine  the  cases  of  private  medi- 
ums, such  as  Eusapia  Palladino  or  Eva  C,  the 
result  is  but  little  different.  Eusapia  Palladino 
for  many  years  before  her  exposure  was  consid- 
ered an  extraordinary  and  genuine  medium. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  she  possessed  unusual 
power.  But  who  could  tell  whether  she  was  at- 
tempting fraud  or  not?  Sir  William  Barrett 
wrote : 

".  .  .  although  Eusapia  appears  to  have  these 
supernormal  powers,  she  is  a  medium  of  a  low 
moral  type,  who  has  been  convicted  of  impos- 
ture in  both  England  and  America  and  with 
whom,  therefore,  I  should  not  care  to  have  any 
sittings.  My  reason  for  referring  to  her  at  all 
is  the  notoriety  she  has  gained,  and  the  instruc- 
tive psychological  and  moral  considerations  her 
career  affords."  ("On  the  Threshold  of  the 
Unseen,"  p.  67,  68.) 

This  combination  of  fraud  and  real  power  is 
easily  explained.  A  person  of  unusual  ''medium- 
istic"  power  is  abnormally  sensitive,  as  a  rule. 
For  example,  she  cannot  go  into  a  trance  or  levi- 
tate every  hour  of  every  day.  If  she  is  not  in  the 
proper  disposition,  if  the  mood  is  not  on  her,  she 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  37 

cannot  produce  any  phenomena.  There  are  no  re- 
suhs  or  poor  results.  Sometimes  she  will  confess 
her  powerlessness  in  all  honesty.  Sometimes  she 
will  pretend  impotency  that  a  sitting  may  be  post- 
poned and  more  information  be  acquired  in  the  in- 
terim. But  most  often  when  there  is  an  important 
demonstration  to  be  held,  and  she  is  the  medium, 
and  men  of  prominence  are  gathered  and  all  ar- 
rangements are  completed,  even  though  she  feels 
helpless,  she  will  determine  somehow  or  other  to 
"see  it  through."    Why  is  this  so? 

Private  mediums  do  not  work  for  money,  but 
they  do  get  money  for  their  work.  Someone  in- 
terested in  Spiritism  or  science  rewards  them  for 
their  time  and  labor.  It  is  their  work  that  has 
helped  many  an  ordinarily  feeble  treatise  on  psy- 
chical research  to  enjoy  a  second  or  third  edition. 
It  is  they  who  today  furnish  the  plot  for  the  sci- 
entific best-seller.  Private  mediums  pursue  a 
more  remunerative  business  than  public  or  ''pay" 
mediums,  except  in  rare  cases.  The  great  artists 
that  graced  the  courts  of  kings  in  olden  days  were 
not  forced,  as  were  their  less-gifted  brethren,  to 
sell  their  work  at  the  market  for  a  livelihood. 
They  received  bounteous  gifts  and  were  the  re- 
cipients of  many  favors  and  honors.  The  private 
medium  today  is  subject  to  much  consideration  by 
scientific  men  and  men  of  power  and  prominence.. 


38  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

They  are  her  beneficent  patrons,  and  also  the  au- 
thors of  her  fame.    She  gains  not  only  reward  but 
prestige  and  influence.    So,  the  medium,  as  in  the 
case  of  Eusapia,  feels  bound  to  reciprocate  kind- 
ness and  consideration.     Besides,  she  is  loath  to 
afford  even  one  opportunity  for  detracting  from 
the  reputation  of  her  ability.    She  wishes  to  give 
satisfaction.    That  is  her  professional  pride.    The 
attitude,  at  least,  is  human  and  very  pardonable. 
The  occasion  arises  when  she  is  not  in  a  spirit 
to  give  a  satisfying  sitting.    She  realizes  that  gen- 
uine phenomena  for  that  day  at  least  are  impos- 
sible.    She  must  not  disappoint  the  gathering. 
She  resorts  to  some  simple  and  effective  ruse.    It 
is  doubly  effective  because  of  her  established  repu- 
tation.    The  deception  is  successful  beyond  ex- 
pectation.    She  has  a  scientific  reason  for  every 
move.    A  little  artifice,  unsuspected  by  the  unwary 
scientific  investigator,  does  the  trick.     For  the 
flash  of  a  moment  she  feels  the  thrill  of  the  artist. 
The  fascination  for  mystifying  others,  so  promi- 
nent in  the  history  of  human  motives,  grips  her. 
After  the  sitting  she  feels  a  glow  of  satisfaction 
and  pride.    Perhaps  she  has  a  vein  of  fine  humor. 
All  alone,  or  with  her  accomplice,  she  enjoys  an 
hour  of  pleasant  laughter.    These  serious-minded, 
profound  men  of  science,  lacking  the  simple  wis- 
dom of  a  child  who  would  have  seen  through  it 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   39 

all !  .  .  .  What  a  chapter  for  a  book !  And  so  she 
starts  down  the  facile  and  pleasant  road  of  deceit. 
She  has  the  experience  of  others  before  her  as  a 
warning.  She  will  not,  she  determines,  be  caught 
as  was  Eusapia  Palladino.  Perhaps  she  never  is. 
But  perhaps  there  comes  a  day  when  a  little  slip 
occurs  and  among  her  sitters  is  a  shrewd  and  sen- 
sible eye,  and  her  day  as  a  reliable  sister  of  science 
is  over.  ...  If ,  besides  her  professional  and  per- 
sonal pride,  she  possesses  the  ''scientific"  pride,  as 
do  Eva  C.  and  her  chaperon,  Madame  Bisson,  she 
has  another  motive  that  strengthens  her  deter- 
mination, ''I  must  not  fail."  Her  anxiety  for  suc- 
cess is  greater.  She  resolves,  above  all,  to  satisfy. 
And  usually  she  does. 

What  are  the  conclusions  of  this  chapter? 
That  there  are  no  unusual  phenomena  contributed 
by  mediums?  No.  Some  mediums  undoubtedly 
afford,  without  fraud,  remarkable  evidence.  The 
power  that  accomplishes  this  and  exactly  what 
this  evidence  is,  are  subjects  for  later  chapters. 
Just  now  I  want  to  impress  the  mind  with  this 
consideration :  whether  a  medium  is  public  or  pri- 
vate, of  great  reputation  or  small,  the  presump- 
tion is  always  against  holding  his  or  her  phe- 
nomena genuine.  Said  Sir  William  F.  Barrett, 
quoting  a  paper  contributed  by  him  in  1886,  to  the 
Society  of  Psychical  Research : 


40  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

".  .  .  reviewing  the  numerous  seances  I  have 
attended  with  different  private  and  professional 
mediums  during  the  last  15  years,  I  find  that  by 
far  the  larger  part  of  the  results  obtained  had 
absolutely  no  evidential  value  in  favor  of  Spir- 
itualism; either  the  condition  of  total  darkness 
forbade  any  trustworthy  conclusions,  or  the  re- 
sults were  nothing  more  than  could  be  explained 
by  a  low  order  of  juggling.  A  few  cases,  how  ■ 
ever,  stand  out  as  exceptions."  ("On  the 
Threshold  of  the  Unseen,"  p.  36.) 

Human  nature  is  human  nature.  As  we  said 
above,  it  is  even  more  difficult  for  a  medium  never 
to  deceive,  than  to  change  her  course  after  she  has 
practised  deception  once  or  twice. 


y 

THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   A   SEANCE 

SOME  day,  perhaps,  there  will  be  established  a 
scientifically  equipped,  brilliantly  lighted  lab- 
oratory for  the  investigation  of  the  various  accom- 
plishments of  mediums.  The  human  machine  will 
then  be  subjected  to  the  calm,  critical,  careful  ex- 
amination that  mechanical  experiments  now  un- 
dergo. Singing,  dim  lamps,  perfumes,  heavy  drap- 
eries, accomplices,  and  the  other  appendages  of 
a  seance  will  be  ruled  out.  But  the  medium  will 
not  agree  to  such  conditions.  Does  she  not  need 
every  natural  aid  to  reach  the  sensitivity  that  will 
allow  the  spirit  to  communicate  through  her? 
True.  But  so  much  the  worse  for  the  medium 
and  Spiritism.  That  a  table  is  lifted  by  a  human 
being  under  certain  conditions  may  have  some 
facts  to  uphold  it.  But  that  the  table  is  lifted  by 
a  spirit  working  through  this  human  being  under 
those  conditions  may  prove  the  wildest  of  fancies. 
Admitting  levitation  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
there  opens  up  an  unbridgeable  gap  between  the 
fact  and  its  explanation.  All  right,  one  may  say, 
the  table  rises.    But  why  the  spirits  ? 

41 


42  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Or,  put  it  this  way.  In  the  dusk  of  a  seance 
something  brushes  me  on  the  cheek.  Why  can- 
not that  something  brush  me  on  the  cheek  in  a 
well-Hghted,  well-equipped  laboratory?  Because 
the  spirits  cannot  work  that  way,  answers  the 
Spiritist.  Then,  may  I  not  ask  how  anyone  knows 
how  the  spirits  act?  Oh,  they  never  do,  is  the 
answer.  And  so  on,  in  the  vicious  circle :  we  know 
the  thing  happens  because  the  spirit  acts  that  way ; 
we  know  the  spirit  acts  that  way  because  the  thing- 
happens.  It  is  one  task  to  establish  some  phe- 
nomena as  certain.  It  is  another  task  to  establish 
the  phenomena  as  psychical.  And  it  is  still  an- 
other task  to  establish  psychical  phenomena  as 
spiritual,  or,  if  you  wish,  as  instigated  by  spirits. 
The  first  of  these  tasks  has  been  but  attempted. 
Scientific  opinion  has  not  declared  that  the  at- 
tempt has  been  successful.  On  the  contrary,  it 
doubts  the  conclusions  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Sir 
William  Barrett,  Sir  William  Crookes,  and  the 
rest.  (See  "The  Question,"  by  Edward  Clodd, 
Science  and  Spiritualism,  Chap.  XII.)  The  sec- 
ond of  these  tasks  yet  awaits  careful,  scientific 
endeavor.  And  the  third  task  is,  so  far  at  least,  in 
the  realm  of  supposition.  The  relation  of  a  me- 
dium's power  to  spirits  is  purely  hypothetical. 

The  conditions  of  a  seance  lead  a  thoughtful 
mind  to  the  conclusion  that  any  phenomena  at  that 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  43 

seance  are  produced  by  the  medium  solely,  either 
through  deception  or  through  some  unusual,  but 
natural  and  not  spiritual,  power.  An  examina- 
tion of  a  medium  in  a  bright,  up-to-date  labora- 
tory would  help  to  establish  her  unusual  power 
as  certain.  It  may  be  established  in  an  ordinary 
seance.  But  what  was  said  in  the  last  chapter 
of  the  tendencies  of  even  the  best  mediums  to  de- 
ception, influences  one  to  doubt  the  honesty  of  the 
evidence.  In  other  words,  considering  the  me- 
dium we  are  always  inclined  to  doubt  her  honesty. 
It  may  be  that  she  is  not  dishonest,  but  under  the 
seance  conditions  demanded  by  her,  and  from  our 
experience,  we  keep  to  that  suspicious  opinion  un- 
til it  is  proved  wrong. 

In  this  chapter  I  am  going  to  show  that,  just  as 
experience  has  led  us  to  doubt  the  veracity  of  the 
medium,  so  experience  has  led  us  to  doubt  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  observers  at  a  seance.  This  state- 
ment may  sound  bold  at  present,  but  the  consid- 
erations I  outline  below  will,  I  believe,  justify  it. 

We  attend  a  seance.  The  lights  are  low;  they 
shed  a  dim  red  glow.  The  singing  begins.  There 
are  strange  shadows  here  and  there  and  stranger 
reflections  from  the  lights.  The  singing  stops  for 
a  while.  The  silence  is  tremulous  and  fraught 
with  vague  anticipations.  The  atmosphere  is 
ghostly.    Around  us  are  the  other  sitters,  strained 


44  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

and  expectant.  If  we  attend  with  the  desire  to 
see  or  hear  something,  we  shall  not  be  disap- 
pointed. As  investigators,  if  not  expectant,  we 
are  at  least  prepared  to  see  or  hear  something  ex- 
traordinary. 

The  medium's  face  becomes  pallid,  her  eyes 
close  little  by  little  as  if  their  gaze  was  lost  in 
misty  distances,  her  lips  quiver.  There  comes  a 
low  moan.  It  moves  you  as  you  have  seldom  been 
moved  before.  Another  low  moan.  The  tension 
grows.  You  want  to  jump,  run,  do  something. 
.  .  .  But  hush,  there  comes  a  soft,  ominous  tap- 
ping, and  then  a  little  flutter,  afar  off  it  seems. 
The  figures  crouch  beside  you.  Then  silence.  But 
not  for  long.  Something  invisible  touches  you 
lightly  on  the  head.  Someone  whispers  to  you 
that  your  mother  is  there,  that  she  wants  to  talk  to 
you.  A  strange  pang  comes,  as  always  when  you 
think  of  your  dear,  dead  mother.  Can  it  be  true? 
you  ask  yourself.  Is  my  mother  come  to  this 
strange  earthly  gathering?  Your  emotion  grows. 
Perhaps  it  is  she.  Why  not  ?  For  a  moment  you 
wonder  whether  or  not  3''ou  should  cry  out  in  scorn 
and  laugh,  laugh  at  the  whole  affair.  .  .  .  But  no. 
You  feel  the  sacredness  of  the  dead,  the  sacred- 
ness  of  even  the  name  of  mother. 

The  tension  grows.  You  feel  alone.  Hush,  you 
hear  a  voice.    Then  the  strained,  unbearable  si- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  45 

lence  again.  Is  it  all  a  play  ?  The  thought  crosses 
your  mind.  No.  No  play  ever  moved  you  as 
this.  The  voice  comes  again,  softly,  distantly, 
tenderly.  Is  it  your  mother's  voice?  No.  You 
try  to  remember.  It  comes  again,  pleading  this 
time.  Yes,  it  is  your  mother's  voice.  In  broken 
phrases  the  voice  tells  you  of  a  little  incident  that 
happened  far  back  in  childhood.  You  want  to  say 
something.  But  you  are  dumfounded.  You  are 
about  to  rise.  .  .,  . 

The  seance  is  over.  You  go  out.  Perhaps  af- 
terwards you  laugh.  Perhaps  you  return  again. 
Perhaps  that  thought  of  thoughts  haunts  you  on 
your  pillow  or  at  your  work:  the  dead  have 
spoken !  You  feel  as  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  when  he 
believed  he  had  heard  from  his  son  Raymond. 

Pass  on.  Your  experience  is  an  interesting  psy- 
chological study.  You  have  laughed  at  those  who 
told  you  they  had  heard  from  a  dead  mother,  or 
son,  or  wife.  You  now  realize  that  whatever  the 
circumstances,  it  is  no  laughing  matter. 

But  of  what  worth  is  your  testimony  as  scien- 
tific evidence  ?  Very  little.  The  setting,  and  your 
disturbed  emotions,  your  expectations,  the  effect 
of  the  group,  all  tended  to  destroy  your  accuracy 
of  observation  and  any  reliability  in  the  report  of 
your  observations.  The  above  case  may  be  an 
extreme  one,  but  the  difference  is  only  of  degree. 


46  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Suppose  we  take  the  experience  of  the  ''scien- 
tific observer."  To  begin  with,  there  is  the  set- 
ting of  the  seance.  The  Hghts  are  low,  or  perhaps 
there  is  no  Hght  at  all.  Says  Dr.  W.  J.  Crawford, 
one  of  the  scientific  spiritualists : 

"The  plain  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  anything 
like  advanced  phenomena  cannot  be  obtained  in 
any  but  the  feeblest  of  lights."  ("Hints  and 
Observations  for  Those  Investigating  the  Phe- 
nomena of  Spiritualism,"  p.  82.) 

Good  light  is  certainly  necessary  for  good  ob- 
servation. That  requisite  is  missing.  The  theo- 
ries of  the  scientific  observer  may  come  from  in- 
spiration, but  surely  his  knowledge  comes  through 
the  senses.  The  light  in  such  cases  is  not  condu- 
cive to  the  accuracy  of  visual  observation  at  least. 
And  when  the  seance  is  held  in  the  dark,  as  often, 
there  is  no  observation,  no  careful  scrutiny  at  all. 

The  strangeness  of  atmosphere — a  factor  en- 
tirely absent  from  the  ordinary  investigations  of 
the  scientific  observer — tends  to  increase  his  emo- 
tional sensitiveness.  That  feeling  of  mystery,  of 
something  extraordinary  about  to  occur,  influ- 
ences his  disposition  to  see  and  believe  the  myste- 
rious and  extraordinary.  If  there  is  music  and 
singing,  these  also,  unless  the  investigator  is  deaf, 
increase  his  emotional  receptivity  to  vague  im- 
pressions.   The  scientific  observer  may  not  be  ex- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  47 

pectant.  Perhaps  his  mind  is  absolutely  indiffer- 
ent. Yet,  the  effect  of  the  setting  moves  him  at 
least  to  a  readiness  to  believe.  If,  in  the  seance, 
the  observer  receives  some  apparently  startling 
information  which  is  reported  to  come  from  one 
deceased,  whose  memory  he  still  warmly  cher- 
ishes, his  emotional  balance  is  apt  to  be  completely 
overthrown.  Disturbed  sensibilities  absolutely 
prevent  accurate  observation,  whether  by  ear  or 
eye.  The  evidence  of  one  or  of  several  investiga- 
tors under  such  conditions  cannot  be  accepted  as 
reliable.  Court  trials  teach  us  that  it  is  seldom 
that  two  witnesses  of  the  same  event  report,  on 
their  own  initiative,  the  same  or  even  similar  de- 
tails, even  when  they  have  been  prepared  to  watch 
the  incident,  and  the  incident  has  occurred  in 
broad  daylight.  Feeble  is  the  testimony  of  one  or 
of  several  witnesses  under  the  extraordinary  psy- 
chological conditions  of  a  seance. 

If  there  is  a  group  of  observers  at  the  seance, 
a  new  factor  enters  to  render  the  evidence  even 
less  reliable.  The  tension  of  a  group  is  greater 
than  the  tension  of  a  solitary  person.  With  a 
crowd  the  predominating  impression  is  conta- 
gious. If  one  man  sat  alone  in  the  orchestra  of  a 
deserted  theatre  and  watched  a  gripping  play,  the 
effect  of  that  play  on  him  would  be  far  less  than 
if  he  were  one  of  a  strained,  hushed  multitude  at 


48  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

a  crowded  house.  At  the  thrilling  finish  of  a  base- 
ball game  the  emotional  force  of  the  crowd  grips 
the  normal  man  until  he  is  no  longer  himself. 
Every  one,  intellectual  and  illiterate,  artist  and  la- 
borer, is  caught  up  in  the  spirit  of  the  crowd. 
Stolid,  phlegmatic  old  men  leap  to  their  feet  with 
wild  hurrahs.  Similarly,  men  and  women  at  a 
seance  are  no  longer  merely  themselves.  Try  as 
they  will  to  remain  unchanged,  the  effect  of  the 
crowd  influences  them.  Someone  whispers :  "Did 
you  see  that?  Did  you  hear  that?"  And  in  the 
strained  atmosphere  of  the  room  they  soon  believe 
that  they  heard  and  saw  something. 

A  face  appears  in  the  dim  light — the  materiliza- 
tion  of  a  spirit!  According  to  my  own  experi- 
ence, about  eighty  out  of  one  hundred  present  will 
recognize  the  features  of  their  grandfathers.  To 
the  others  the  face  will  appear  to  be  some  other 
relative  or  friend  now  dead.  There  is  no  man 
who  is  absolutely  emotionless.  No  matter  how 
scientific  his  training,  how  balanced  his  faculties, 
he  will  be  caught  up  in  some  degree  by  the  spirit 
of  the  crowd.  In  the  laboratory  his  observations 
would  usually  be  reliable.  But  in  the  crowd  at  a 
seance  it  is  seldom  that  his  testimony  will  be  more 
than  partially  accurate.  And  any  theories  he  for- 
mulates under  that  strain  are  almost  invariably 
to  be  looked  upon  as  dubious. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   49 

All  these  conditions  may  not  be  present  at  a 
seance.  But  I  set  them  down  at  length  here  in 
order  that  people  may  be  guarded  against  accept- 
ing as  absolutely  reliable  such  testimony  under 
such  conditions.  To  be  sure,  there  are  conditions 
under  which  the  testimony  of  one  man,  or  the  tes- 
timony of  a  crowd  as  a  whole  may  be  taken  as 
trustworthy.  But  not  where  some  or  all  of  the 
conditions  are  such  that  they  tend  to  prevent  ac- 
curate observation  and  to  warp  and  disturb  the 
judgment. 

Men  of  scientific  training,  such  as  Sir  William 
Crookes,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  Sir  William  Bar- 
rett, have  been  "taken  in"  at  a  seance.  (See  "The 
Question,"  by  Edward  Clodd,  p.  271,  272.)  Me- 
diums, through  frauds  that  were  afterwards  de- 
tected or  confessed,  have  fooled  thousands.  Even 
where  the  phenomena  have  not  been  produced  by 
fraudulent  methods,  a  report  of  what  happened 
can  seldom,  because  of  the  conditions,  be  accepted 
as  absolutely  reliable.  How  accurate  this  testimony 
is  and  how  able  men  are  to  observe  phenomena  of 
this  sort  may  be  learned  from  the  declaration  of 
that  shrewd  woman,  the  founder  of  Theosophy, 
Madame  Blavatsky; 

"I  have  met  with  no  more  than  two  or  three 
men  who  knew  how  to  observe  and  see  and  re- 
mark on  what  was  going  on  around  them.    It 


50  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

is  simply  amazing !  At  least  nine  out  of  every 
ten  people  are  entirely  devoid  of  the  capacity  of 
observation  and  of  the  power  of  remembering 
accurately  what  took  place  even  a  few  hours 
before.  How  often  it  has  happened  that,  under 
my  direction  and  revision,  minutes  of  various 
occurrences  and  phenomena  have  been  drawn 
up ;  lo,  the  most  innocent  and  conscientious  peo- 
ple, even  sceptics,  even  those  who  actually  sus- 
pected me,  have  signed  en  toufes  lettrcs  as  wit- 
nesses, at  the  foot  of  the  minutes !  And  all  the 
time  I  knew  that  what  had  happened  was  not 
in  the  least  what  was  stated  in  the  minutes." 
(Quoted  by  Edward  Clodd,  ib.,  pp.  272,  273.) 

It  is  all  these  considerations — the  setting  and 
atmosphere  of  a  seance,  the  poor  light,  the  ex- 
pectancy or  readiness  to  believe,  the  strained 
emotional  state  due  to  our  own  disturbed  sensi- 
bilities or  to  the  effect  of  the  crowd,  the  common 
inaccuracy  of  man  in  observing  details,  and  the 
imaginative  factor  in  reporting  what  was  seen  or 
heard — all  these  that  have  led  me  to  conclude  that 
the  presumption  is  against  accuracy  of  observa- 
tion and  report  of  the  phenomena  of  a  seance,  as 
it  is  against  the  honesty  of  the  medium.  There 
are  influences  hinted  at  above,  such  as  man's  in- 
clination to  believe  what  he  fancies  he  sees,  and 
to  grow  in  his  belief  as  he  ponders  it.  And  there 
are  other  factors  that  enter  into  the  equation, 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   51 

some  of  which  we  have  touched  upon  in  previ- 
ous chapters,  such  as  the  peculiar  psychology  of 
the  scientific  observer  who  applies  to  the  human 
agent  the  same  method  he  uses  for  simply  ma- 
terial experiments,  and  the  natural  desire  of  peo- 
ple in  general  to  be  mystified.  All  of  these  con- 
siderations enter  into  the  weighing  of  the  evi- 
dences of  a  seance,  and  incline  one  to  discard  so 
much  of  it,  or  at  least  move  one  to  place  a  doubt- 
ing finger  upon  it. 

There  is  one  other  point  that  we  must  not  for- 
get here,  and  that  is,  that  almost  all  of  the  spir- 
itistic literature  has  been  compiled  and  written  by 
men  who  start  with  a  theory  and  seek  for  facts  to 
justify  it.  This  policy  must  often  result  in  much 
misinterpretation  of  facts,  and  in  the  exclusion 
of  many  considerations  that  might  tell  against  the 
pre-f  ormulated  theory.  And  this  may  be  done  by 
many  in  all  honesty.  But  besides  these  faults, 
the  policy  is  also  open  to  the  objection  that  in  a 
case  of  doubt  the  benefit  will  be  given  to  the  the- 
ory to  be  proved.  This  is  the  common  practice  of 
men  in  all  works ;  they  allow  their  enthusiasm  or 
their  personal  aims  to  enter  into  what  should  be 
a  disinterested  examination  of  facts.  One  cannot 
fail  to  notice  the  enthusiasm  and  eagerness  on  the 
side  of  their  own  theory  in  the  works  of  men  like 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge  and  Sir  Conan  Doyle. 


52  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Without  a  consideration  of  the  natural  credu- 
lousness  of  man  and  his  desire  to  be  deceived,  the 
tendency  of  a  medium  to  satisfy  this  desire,  the 
ease  with  which  an  ordinarily  accurate  scientist 
can  be  fooled,  the  total  dissimilarity  between  a 
seance  and  the  regular  scientific  investigation,  and 
the  inclination  of  observers  to  imagine  and  distort 
and  misinterpret,  a  convincing  study  of  Spiritism 
cannot  be  made.  As  in  few  other  scientific  prob- 
lems, the  investigator  must  bear  in  mind  the  vari- 
ations and  weaknesses  of  the  human  factor. 


VI 

WHAT  ARE   PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA? 

THE  House  of  Spiritism  is  built  largely  of 
rubbish.  To  gather  out  of  the  immense 
mound  of  rubbish  the  real  material  that  deserves 
scientific  consideration  is  a  task  that  will  keep  a 
host  of  careful  investigators  busy  for  many  years. 
These  investigators  must  cope  with  a  jumble  of 
debris  much  larger  and  more  confused  than  that 
Lavoisier  faced  when  he  began  to  weigh  the  ma- 
terial of  the  Alchemists  to  build  the  magnificent 
edifice  of  modern  chemistry.  What  is  true  and 
what  is  not?  What  is  of  value  and  what  is  not? 
These  are  the  questions  the  workers  must  answer. 
The  work  is  vast  and  difficult  and  the  reliable 
workmen  are  few. 

There  is  great  confusion,  not  only  among  ordi- 
nary people  but  among  those  who  have  written  at 
length  on  Spiritism,  as  to  just  what  are  psychical 
phenomena.  Anything  unusual,  any  demonstra- 
tion that  cannot  be  readily  explained,  any  event 
that  has  a  strange  significance,  is  generally  headed 
"a  psychical  phenomenon"  and  treated  as  such. 
Dr.  Joseph  Lapponi,  for  example,  in  his  book, 

53 


54  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

"Hypnotism  and  Spiritism,"  describes  a  seance 
at  which,  through  the  agency  of  a  single  medium, 
a  great  number  of  happenings  occurred  in  an 
amazing  confusion  that  included  almost  every- 
thing from  spirit  rappings  to  Hindu  tricks  (p. 
107-128,  English  trans.).  They  are  all  ''psychic- 
al phenomena,"  according  to  the  Doctor's  judg- 
ment, and  constitute  for  him  "the  foundation  of 
Spiritism."  One  can  easily  surmise  what  he  him- 
self admits — that  he  has  had  no  personal  experi- 
ence in  the  matter.     (lb.  p.  184.) 

The  first  difficulty  has  been  that  no  one  has 
given  an  accurate  definition  of  psychical  phenom- 
enon. Just  what  is  a  psychical  phenomenon  ?  It 
seems  strange  that  so  many  should  have  written 
about  psychical  phenomena  without  having  first 
established  just  what  psychical  phenomena  are. 
Let  us  endeavor  to  supply  a  practical  definition 
here. 

A  psychical  phenomenon  is  a  sensible  effect  pro- 
voked by  a  medium  as  an  instrumental  cause  and 
produced,  through  forces  generally  unknown,  by 
an  unseen  intellectual  agent  as  a  principal  cause. 

(Effectiis  sensibilis  a  medio  tamqiiam 
causa  instrument ali  provocatus,  et,  viri- 
bus  generatim  incognitis,  ah  agente  in- 
tellectuali  occulta,  tamqiiam  causa  prin- 
cipali  productus.) 


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SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    55 

Once  we  have  this  definition  clearly  in  mind,  a 
great  number  of  the  difficulties  of  the  spiritistic 
problem  will  be  easily  explained.  The  germ  of  the 
present  confusion  regarding  Spiritism,  a  germ 
that  is  the  cause  of  countless  inaccuracies  and 
misinterpretations,  is  just  this  failure  to  compre- 
hend what  psychical  phenomena  are.  Too  often, 
the  blows  directed  against  Spiritism  fall  harmless 
because  they  are  aimed  wide  of  the  mark.  In- 
stead of  at  once  clearing  the  field  of  everything 
that  is  not  a  bona  fide  psychical  phenomenon,  they 
enter  the  lists  with  every  strange  circumstance  the 
Spiritists  care  to  introduce,  and  then  by  devious 
unsuccessful  devices  endeavor  to  circumvent  it. 
The  fact  is  that  psychical  phenomena,  indeed  al- 
most all  the  phenomena  of  a  seance,  almost  all 
the  evidence  offered  by  mediums,  have  nothing  to 
do  with  spirits  at  all.  The  assumption  that  every 
curious  phenomenon  is  a  point  scored  in  favor  of 
Spiritism,  is  an  assumption  which  both  sides  seem 
willing  to  accept.  Then  the  debate  settles  down  to 
one  side  vehemently  insisting  that  these  phenom- 
ena occur,  while  the  other  side  as  vehemently  pro- 
tests that  they  do  not,  or,  if  they  do,  that  they  are 
all  fraudulently  produced.  If  it  is  agreed  that  the 
phenomena  do  occur,  then  the  opponents  seem  to 
feel  that  their  only  ground  for  further  argument 
lies  in  considering  just  what  kinds  of  spirits  cause 


56  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

the  phenomena.  We  shall  treat  in  more  particu- 
lar, later,  this  important  question  as  to  when,  if 
ever,  the  agency  of  spirits  of  any  kind  must  be 
assumed. 

I  shall  now  explain  my  definition. 

A  psychical  phenomenon  is  a  sensible  effect; 
that  is,  a  phenomenon  perceptible  by  the  senses. 
This  sensible  effect  is  provoked  by  a  medium: 
provoked  here  means  brought  about  by,  elicited. 
A  medium  is  a  person  who  has  the  faculty  of  pro- 
ducing, in  special  circumstances,  certain  phenom- 
ena in  which  the  directive  action  of  an  exterior 
mind  appears.  The  medium  is  like  a  wireless 
receiver  that  is  tuned  for  certain  waves.  At  any 
given  moment  the  receiver  may  or  may  not  receive 
any  message,  but  it  is  ready  to  receive  the  mes- 
sage when  the  waves  for  which  it  is  tuned  are 
intercepted  by  the  antennae. 

The  sensible  effect  is  provoked  by  the  medium 
as  an  instrumental  cause:  that  is,  the  cause  that 
produces  the  effect  under  the  influence  of  the  prin- 
cipal cause.  It  is  not  a  principal  efficient  cause, 
but  an  instrument.  {"Causa  instrument alis  est 
quae  producit  effectum,  pro  ut  subditur  virtiiti 
causae  principalis")  When  the  medium  is  a  prin- 
cipal efficient  cause  in  producing  the  phenomena, 
the  phenomena  cease  to  be  psychical. 

The  sensible  effect,  while  brought  about  by  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   57 

medium  as  an  instrument,  is  "produced,  through 
forces  generally  unknown,  by  an  unseen  intellec- 
tual agent  as  a  principal  cause."  An  unseen  agent 
is  an  agent  that  is  not  immediately  or  easily 
known,  but  is  in  some  way  hidden ;  an  intellectual 
agent  is  an  agent  similar  to  the  medium,  inasmuch 
as  it  has  intellect,  but  distinct  from  the  medium, 
''as  a  principal  cause,  i.e.,  a  cause  which  of  its 
own  power  produces  an  effect."  ("Causa  princi- 
palis est  quae  ex  propria  virtute  effectum  pro- 
ducit")  Such  would  be  the  wireless  operator  who 
sent  the  message  caught  by  the  receiver.  The  me- 
dium, as  we  said,  is  the  receiver.  The  wireless 
operator  is  the  other  unseen  mind.  It  must  be 
carefully  noted  that  in  this  definition  we  exclude 
from  the  heading  "psychical"  all  the  activities  of 
the  medium's  own  mind  alone,  no  matter  how 
unique  they  may  be.  Startling  messages  and  vi- 
sions the  origin  of  which  can  be  found  in  the  sub- 
conscious mind  of  the  medium  will  not  be  consid- 
ered as  psychical,  but  only  those  phenomena  that 
can  be  said  to  be  produced  through  the  medium  by 
another  mind  somewhere  working  as  the  principal 
cause. 

What  do  I  mean  by  "forces  generally  un- 
known ?"  In  the  study  of  all  psychical  phenomena 
two  things  must  be  distinguished:  i,  the  actual 
force  that  produces  the  effect ;  2,  the  mind  behind 


58  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

and  directing  that  force.  For  example :  the  force 
that  produces  the  movement  of  the  wireless  re- 
ceiver across  the  Atlantic  is  electricity;  the  mind 
directing  that  force  is  the  wireless  operator  in 
New  York.  The  difference  between  the  force  and 
the  mind  behind  the  force  is  too  often  overlooked 
or  not  comprehended  and,  in  consequence,  the  con- 
fusion becomes  serious.  This  difference  we  will 
bear  in  mind  while  we  examine  two  types  of  psy- 
chical phenomena: 

1.  Automatic  writing:  the  pencil  or  pen  of  a 
medium,  held  loosely  in  her  hand  over  a  piece  of 
paper,  begins,  apparently  of  its  own  initiative,  to 
write  in  the  medium's  own  handwriting  or  an- 
other, a  message  containing  information  unknown 
to  the  medium  and  outside  of  the  medium's  expe- 
rience. 

In  this  case  we  have:  A:  the  muscular  force 
that  moves  the  hand  independently  of  the  medi- 
um's will.  And  B:  the  mind  that  directs  that 
muscular  force  and  delivers  the  message.  Obvi- 
ously, the  force  is  known — muscular  force.  But 
the  directing  mind  is  unknown.  It  cannot  be  the 
subconscious  mind  of  the  medium  if  the  message 
is  outside  of  her  knowledge  and  experience. 

2.  Table  tilting:  delivering  a  message  by  tilts  of 
a  table. 

In  this  case  we  have:  A:  the  tilting  produced 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    59 

by  an  unknown  force.  B:  the  mind  that  directs 
the  force  and  produces  the  message.  The  force 
that  tilts  the  table  is  not  known.  The  mind  that 
directs  the  force  is  likewise  not  known. 

In  the  first  case,  that  of  automatic  writing,  we 
see  that  the  force  is  known;  in  the  second  case, 
table  tilting,  we  see  that  the  force  is  unknown. 
Hence  we  say,  not  that  the  force  is  always  un- 
known, but  that  it  is  generally  unknown. 

With  this  definition,  then,  and  heeding  particu- 
larly the  distinction  between  the  force  and  the 
mind  directing  the  force,  we  shall  endeavor  to 
separate  the  false  from  the  true  in  the  heap  of 
phenomena  know^n  as  spiritistic,  and  to  discover 
just  what  may  be  held  as  genuine  psychical  phe- 
nomena. Diogenes'  quest  was  simple  in  compari- 
son with  ours ! 


VII 

RESEARCH    FOR   PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA:     FRAUD 

I  AM  well  aware  that  the  expression  psychical 
research  is  given  a  much  broader  interpreta- 
tion by  the  "English  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search" than  I  give  it  here.  When,  in  1882,  the 
investigators  of  that  Society  began  their  very 
commendable  policy  of  collecting  such  material  as 
might  help  to  construct  a  new  branch  of  human 
knowledge,  psychic  science,  accurate  information 
as  to  just  what  might  be  psychic  and  what  might 
not,  was  not  available.  Hence  these  investigators 
considered  it  wise  to  examine  every  happening 
that  had  the  appearance  of  the  supernormal, 
whether  it  was  a  spiritgram,  a  theosophist  mystifi- 
cation or  simply  a  Hindu  trick.  This  time  has 
passed.  Too  much  spurious  and  superfluous  data 
clog  the  present  treatises  on  Spiritism.  It  is  time 
now,  if  any  one  is  ever  going  to  establish  a  reason 
for  a  science  which  is  psychical,  to  define  clearly 
just  what  is  to  be  considered.  There  may  or  may 
not  be  a  good  foundation  for  a  psychic  science. 

But  we  may  be  sure  that  there  never  will  be,  with- 

60 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   6i 

out  a  clear  definition  of  what  psychical  phenomena 
are.  By  considering  that  they  are  sensible  effects 
which,  though  brought  about  by  a  medium  acting 
as  an  instrument,  are  primarily  produced  by  an 
invisible  mind  using  forces  which  are,  as  a  rule, 
unknown,  we  have  a  starting  point  and  are  able  to 
eliminate  much  that  is  irrelevant.  We  can  then 
decide  just  what  phenomena  have  any  bearing  on 
the  supposition  that  the  spirits  communicate  on 
the  provocation  of  mediums,  and  what  are  merely 
unusual  and  strange,  with  no  bearing  on  the  ques- 
tion of  Spiritism.  In  other  words,  we  are  inter- 
ested not  in  any  peculiar  powers  that  a  medium 
may  possess  of  his  or  her  unaided  self,  but  in  what 
the  ''other  mind"  is,  that  in  certain  instances  in-, 
fluences  the  medium. 

I  may  eliminate,  to  begin  with,  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  somnambulism,  hypnotism,  hallucina- 
tion of  the  senses,  catalepsy,  hysteria,  automat- 
ism, and  similar  phenomena,  when  their  source 
may  be  traced  to  the  subconscious,  or,  if  the 
phrase  is  preferred,  to  the  "not  yet  conscious" 
mind  of  the  medium.  Such  phenomena  come  un- 
der the  study  of  biology,  pathology,  psychology, 
and  allied  sciences,  and  are  not  what  I  have  de- 
fined as  psychical  phenomena. 

It  may  be  objected  that  psychical  phenomena 
belong  to  the  province  of  psychology.    I  hold  that 


62  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

there  is  in  man  but  one  principle  of  all  operations 
— the  soul.  I  do  not  admit  the  duality  of  human 
personality.  Psychology  is  the  study  of  that  soul 
in  its  various  aspects  and  activities.  "Psychic 
Science,"  the  study  of  what  I  have  called  psychical 
phenomena,  is  a  study  of  the  "other  mind"  and 
how  that  other  invisible  mind  acts  upon  the  mind 
before  us.  It  may,  if  one  pleases,  be  considered  as 
a  branch  of  psychology,  but  it  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  the  more  prominent  activities  of  that 
science.  It  is  only  by  making  the  unseen  intellec- 
tual agent  our  chief  objective  that  we  can  dis- 
cover on  what  grounds  the  spiritistic  hypothesis 
rests.  In  our  study  of  this  outside  influence  we 
may  discover  new  powers  of  the  subconscious 
mind,  but  such  discoveries  will  be  only  incidental 
to  our  main  purpose. 

I  may  eliminate,  also,  all  that  evidence  which  is 
accepted  by  so  many  gullible  writers  as  genu- 
ine, and  which  is,  to  anyone  familiar  with  the 
art  of  a  magician  or  with  the  resources  of  human 
invention  when  mystification  is  the  object,  simply 
the  product  of  clever  trickery  or  clumsy  fraud. 
There  is  an  astonishing  amount  of  these  "phe- 
nomena," produced  by  simple  humbuggery  or  hon- 
est ingenuity,  which  is  readily  accepted  both  by 
the  opponents  of  Spiritism  and  by  its  followers. 
How  huge  this  amount  is  only  he  can  know  who 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   63 

is  familiar  with  the  works  of  the  host  of  writers 
that  have  treated  Spiritism,  and  who  at  the  same 
time  has  taken  pains  to  familiarize  himself  with 
the  methods  and  resources  of  mediums  and  magi- 
cians the  world  over.  I  know  from  my  own  in- 
timate experience  the  amazing  number  of  people 
who  come  wide-eyed  to  narrate  to  me  some  ex- 
traordinary demonstration  they  have  witnessed, 
which  was  but  a  very  interesting  trick  and  which 
I  could  myself  do  for  them  in  a  very  few  minutes. 
There  is,  for  example,  the  playing  of  an  accor- 
dion by  the  "spirits."  No  human  hand  plays  the 
accordion  and  yet  harmonious  music  is  forthcom- 
ing. It  sounds  and  appears  unusual — still,  it  is 
but  a  trick  which  I  will  explain  on  a  later  page. 

"The  spiritistic  marvels  worked  by  the  In- 
dian fakirs  are  guaranteed  as  true,  not  only  by 
Jaccolliot,  who  spent  many  years  of  his  life  in 
India,  but  also  by  the  missionary  Hue,  by 
Eugene  Nus,  by  Olcott,  and  by  many  other 
Europeans,  who  were  altogether  astounded  by 
the  performances."  ("Hypnotism  and  Spirit- 
ism," Eng.  trans.,  p.  153.) 

So  writes  Dr.  Lapponi  and  he  also  gives  exam- 
ples of  these  "spiritistic  marvels,"  but  the  marvels 
are  explained  in  any  good  book  of  Hindu  tricks. 
For  instance.  Dr.  Lapponi  says:  "Among  the 
wonderful  operations  which  the  Indian  fakirs 


64  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

perform  and  attribute  to  the  spirits  is  to  be  re- 
corded that  of  hastening  vegetable  growth."  He 
then  quotes  a  long  passage  from  Jaccolliot,  who 
tells  how  a  fakir  he  met  by  chance  near  Benares 
made  a  papaw  grow.  How  the  Hindu  fooled  Jac- 
colliot may  be  discovered  in  Samri  S.  Baldwin's 
"The  Secrets  of  Mahatma  Land  Explained"  on 
pages  55  to  59,  or  in  Dr.  Herward  Carrington's 
''Hindu  Magic,"  page  5  and  following.  In  these 
booklets  also  may  be  found  explanations  of  many 
other  "spiritistic  marvels." 

Father  Eustaquio  Ugarte  de  Ercilla,  S.J.,  in 
his  treatise,  "Modern  Spiritism,"  goes  out  of  his 
way  to  give  philosophic  and  scientific  explana- 
tions of  similar  marvels.  Beginning  with  page 
440,  for  example  ("El  Espiritismo  Moderno"), 
he  discusses  at  length  the  famous  phenomenon 
witnessed  by  so  many  travellers  in  India — the 
fakir's  funeral.  He  describes  (page  446)  how  the 
fakir  who  is  buried  can,  by  regulating  his  respira- 
tion, bring  upon  a  cataleptic  condition  and  thus 
remain  underground  apparently  dead.  The  ex- 
planation is  very  interesting,  but  not  as  interesting 
as  that  of  Baldwin  in  the  work  quoted  above  (lb., 

P-  51.  52). 

".  .  .  the  Fakirs  suggested  that  one  of  their 
number  be  buried  alive.  A  grave  between  five 
and  six  feet  deep  was  speedily  excavated  in  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   65 

soil.  The  grave  was  made  between  seven  and 
eight  feet  long  and  about  two  feet  six  inches 
wide  at  the  top,  and  for  about  four  feet  in  depth 
was  quite  perpendicular.  Then  a  little  projec- 
tion was  allowed,  and  the  balance  of  the  grave 
to  a  distance  of  about  two  feet  in  depth  was 
not  quite  two  feet  wide. 

"The  Fakir  who  proposed  to  be  buried  was 
apparently  hypnotized,  became  rigid  and  stiff, 
and  was  then  wrapped  in  a  cloth  and  placed  in 
the  grave.  Then  across  the  little  shelves,  as  it 
were,  on  each  side  of  the  grave,  some  thin 
planks  were  laid,  so  that  when  the  grave  was 
filled  in,  the  earth  would  not  come  in  contact 
with  his  body.  The  soil  was  then  replaced  to 
the  depth  of  about  six  or  seven  inches  when  one 
of  the  Hindoos  jumped  into  the  grave,  and 
trampled  the  earth  down  solidly  and  heavily, 
and  as  each  five  or  six  inches  were  filled  in  this 
was  repeated  and  the  soil  packed  as  tightly  as 
possible  by  the  naked  feet  of  the  Fakir's  assis- 
tants, until  finally  the  entire  grave  was  com- 
pleted, and  it  certainly  seemed  as  if  he  was  laid 
away  for  his  final  rest. 

'T  asked  how  long  the  man  would  remain 
there,  and  was  told  'as  long  as  the  Sahib 
pleases.'  I  finally  said  we  could  let  him  remain 
there  until  the  morrow  morning,  and  it  was  ar- 
ranged with  our  party  that  we  should  take  such 
watch  during  the  night  as  would  prevent  the 
grave  being  disturbed.  In  the  morning,  shortly 
after  breakfast,  it  was  decided  to  open  the 


66  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

grave,  which  was  done.  It  certainly  bore  no 
appearance  of  having-  been  disturbed  in  the 
least;  in  fact,  certain  marks  and  fastenings 
which  we  had  placed  upon  it  to  prevent  it  be- 
ing tampered  with  were  exactly  as  they  had 
been  left.  But  to  our  surprise,  when  reaching 
the  bottom  of  the  grave  and  removing  the 
planks,  the  Fakir  was  not  there,  and  while  I 
was  looking  at  the  empty  grave  in  thorough 
amazement  as  to  where  the  man  could  have  dis- 
appeared, I  suddenly  felt  a  light  touch  upon  my 
shoulder,  and  on  looking  around,  the  Fakir 
stood  before  me  in  simple  humility,  bowing  al- 
most to  the  ground,  with  his  hands  clasped  in 
front  of  his  forehead,  making  the  customary 
salutation  of  'salaam^  Sahib/  and  petitioning 
for  baksheesh." 

"The  grave,"  continues  the  writer,  'Svas  pur- 
posely made  large  and  roomy,  but  apparently 
as  if  merely  in  the  haste  of  digging  it  and  with- 
out any  design  in  the  matter. 

''When  the  first  soil  was  thrown  in  upon  the 
planks  covering  the  Fakir,  the  noise  made  by  the 
falling  clods  prevented  the  onlookers  from  hear- 
ing any  movement  on  his  part.  He  simply 
broke  through  the  small  division  of  earth  sep- 
arating him  from  an  adjoining  excavation,  and 
which  allowed  him  to  have  plenty  of  air.  It 
then  became  very  apparent  why  the  Hindoos  so 
carefully  packed  in  the  soil  with  their  feet  every 
five  or  six  inches.  The  noise  made  by  their 
tramping  feet  and  the  crash  of  the  spade  was 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  67 

sufficient  to  cover  the  noise  and  movement  of 
the  Fakir  as  he  crawled  into  the  adjoining  cav- 
ity and  made  his  way  gently  into  a  hollow  tree, 
whence,  after  everybody  retired  at  night,  he 
emerged  and  slept  the  sleep  of  the  just,  sur- 
rounded by  his  virtuous  and  guileless  family." 

It  is  obvious  that,  if  the  excavation  had  been 
postponed  a  week  or  two,  the  "buried"  fakir  would 
have  appeared  just  the  same,  or,  as  is  sometimes 
done,  would  have  been  discovered  in  the  cavity  at 
the  bottom,  back  to  which  he  had  crawled  before 
the  excavation  was  begun,  or  during  it,  appar- 
ently in  the  same  state  in  which  he  had  been 
buried. 

Father  Ugarte  de  Ercilla  makes  much  of  Sir 
William  Crookes'  famous  experiment  with  me- 
dium Home^  C'El  Espiritismo  Moderno,"  p. 
168),  in  which  an  accordion  held  by  the  medium 
was  played,  supposedly,  by  the  spirits.  The  ac- 
cordion is  held  in  one  hand  by  the  keyless  end  and 
the  other  end  allowed  to  hang  untouched  toward 
the  floor,  so  that  manipulation  by  the  medium  is 
impossible.  A  wire  netting  is  placed  around  the 
suspended  accordion  so  that  no  hand  can  reach 
the  other  end  to  move  the  instrument  to  admit  the 
air  necessary  for  making  the  sound,  or  to  press 

*  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle,  in  a  recent  magazine  article 
(Hearst's,  July  1921)  called  Home  "The  most  remarkable  man 
since  the  Apostles."    Home  died  insane. 


6S  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

the  keys  to  play  the  notes.  Yet,  after  a  few  min- 
utes, a  tune  is  heard.  This  demonstration  pro- 
duces an  extraordinary  effect  on  the  sitters.  It 
can  be  done  in  full  light.  Usually  the  accordion 
is  suspended  under  a  table  which  is  a  haunt  for 
spirits,  or  is  at  least  so  considered.  This  is  gen- 
erally held  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  spiritistic  phe- 
nomena. 

I  offer  the  same  demonstration  in  my  lectures. 
After  a  few  minutes  of  expectation  I  give  a  signal 
to  a  friend  behind  the  partition  who  plays  a  tune 
on  another  accordion.  As  he  is  invisible  and  as 
the  source  of  the  sound  is  not  discoverable,  espe- 
cially when  attention  is  riveted  on  the  visible  in- 
strument, the  effect  is  as  convincing  as  the  hum- 
bug is  simple.  The  power  of  a  demonstration  is 
usually  in  direct  ratio  to  the  stupidity  of  the  de- 
vice that  produces  it.  Sometimes  my  friend, 
taken  up  with  his  playing,  fails  to  notice  the  signal 
to  desist,  and  continues  his  tune  after  the  accor- 
dion is  no  longer  suspended.  The  effect  of  this 
little  slip  in  arrangements  is  even  more  extraor- 
dinary on  the  auditors,  as  it  was  on  Sir  William 
Crookes. 

Another  rather  famous  ''spiritistic  marvel"  is 
the  seance  in  which  the  medium  is  tied  and  the 
lights  put  out.  Articles  are  thrown  about  the 
room  in  the  dark,  sitters  feel  hands  brush  their 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  69 

cheeks  or  pinch  them,  and  so  on.  When  the  lights 
are  switched  on  the  room  is  in  disorder.  Confetti 
has  been  showered,  in  some  cases,  over  the  sitters 
and  the  furniture,  articles  are  found  out  of  place, 
hats  and  coats  disarranged,  and  similar  disorders 
that  bear  witness  to  the  work  of  some  agency. 
Evidently  it  was  not  the  medium,  for  his  hands 
are  firmly  tied.  Who  was  it?  The  spirits — has 
been  the  answer. 

Yet,  the  answer  is  wrong.  In  the  dark  any  of 
the  sitters  in  league  with  the  medium  could  have 
been  guilty.  But  the  medium  did  not  need  an  ac- 
complice. There  is  a  manner  of  disengaging  one's 
hands  from  knots  and  replacing  them  almost  im- 
mediately. During  the  dark  the  medium's  hands 
were  free.  The  trick  is  very  simple.  I  use  it 
myself  in  my  lectures.  The  Thomas  brothers  use 
it,  as  did  the  famous  Davenport  brothers.  J.  S. 
Hickey,  O.  Cist,  quotes  the  work  of  these  Daven- 
port brothers  as  furnishing  real  inexplicable  phe- 
nomena. ("Summula  Philosophiae  Scholasticae," 
p.  201,  202,  and  note.)  Yet  J.  N.  Maskelyne,  in 
his  book,  written  together  with  Dr.  Lionel  A., 
Weatherly,  'The  Supernatural?"  exposed  this  no- 
torious fraud. 

"Before  the  death  of  one,  however,  both  of 
them  (the  Davenport  brothers)  publicly  re- 
nounced Spiritualism,  and  declared  that  the 


70  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

whole  performance  was  the  result  of  trickery 
and  dexterity.  Notwithstanding  this  admis- 
sion and  my  exposure  of  the  tricks,  Spiritual- 
ists still  maintain  that  the  Davenports  were  as- 
sisted by  spiritual  agency."  (p.  i8o.) 

Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle,  by  the  way,  still  puts 
faith  in  the  rope-tying  seances  of  the  Thomas 
brothers.  (See  his  introduction  to  Sydney  A. 
Moseley's  defence  of  Spiritism:  "An  Amazing 
Seance  and  an  Exposure.")  Mention  of  this  sort 
of  phenomena,  even  with  the  above-mentioned  ap- 
proval of  the  creator  of  Sherlock  Holmes,  might 
seem  out  of  place  because  of  their  very  crudeness 
did  I  not  know  that  it  is  just  this  sort  of  phenom- 
ena that  is  influencing  thousands  in  favor  of  Spir- 
itism.   (See  lb.,  p.  19-27,  inc.) 

I  mention  these  cases  of  trickery  because  they 
are  quoted  by  Catholic  opponents  of  Spiritism,  as 
examples  of  genuine  phenomena.  One  can  easily 
imagine  what  sort  of  evidence  is  needed  to  move 
the  ordinary  devotee  of  Spiritism. 

There  are  thousands  of  cases  of  so-called  "spir- 
itistic phenomena,"  which  are  current  as  genuine 
and  yet  are  simply  the  product  of  trickery  or 
fraud.  There  is,  for  instance,  the  famous  dem- 
onstration in  which  the  medium  reads  sealed 
writings.  When  an  adept  performer  does  the 
trick  the  result  is  extremely  mystifying.     There 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  yi 

are  several  ways  o£  doing  it,  according  to  the 
circumstances.  Describing  one  method,  David  P. 
Abbott  writes  ("Behind  the  Scenes  with  the  Me- 
dium," p.  loi):  *'I  use  for  this  (the  envelope 
sealed  with  wax  containing  a  name)  colonial  spir- 
its, which  is  an  odorless  wood  alcohol  manufac- 
tured in  this  country.  If  a  sponge  saturated  with 
this  be  rubbed  across  any  piece  of  paper,  it  is  ren- 
dered instantly  transparent,  as  soon  as  moistened ; 
and  any  writing  under  it  can  be  easily  read.  In  a 
few  moments  the  alcohol  evaporates,  and  the 
transparent  condition  of  the  paper  disappears." 
The  author  goes  on  to  describe  in  detail  how 
he  skillfully  accom.plishes  his  object.  He  also 
explains  how  other  secret  writings  are  read  by  a 
medium,  and  describes  at  length  the  various  proc- 
esses of  slate-messages,  their  reading  and  the  re- 
ply to  them.  His  book  is  a  very  good  fund  of  in- 
formation on  this  question  of  mediums  and  their 
various  "messages." 

Spirit  photography  is  one  of  the  greatest 
sources  of  "evidence"  and  at  the  same  time  one 
of  the  best  examples  of  the  success  of  sheer  hum- 
bug. Spirit  photography  of  the  type  which  Sir  A. 
Conan  Doyle  considers  genuine,  snap-shots  of 
fairies,  and  Mrs.  Dupont  Lee's  "psychic  photo- 
graphs," are  in  the  class  of  nursery  amusements. 
Spirit  painting  of  the  Thomson-Gifford  class  as 


y2   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

reproduced  and  explained  by  Professor  H3^slop 
(see  p.  208,  figures  I  to  X,  in  his  "Contact  with  the 
Other  World")  deserves  no  better  appellation. 
And  photography  of  "materializations"  similar  to 
that  reproduced  by  Baron  von  Schrenck  Notzing, 
"practising  physician  in  Munich,"  in  his  work, 
"Phenomena  of  Materialization,"  in  most  of 
which  even  an  unexperienced  eye  can  easily  detect 
fraud,  can  be  held  only  as  a  blot  on  the  study  of 
psychical  phenomena/  In  almost  all  spirit  pho- 
tography a  student  of  the  science  can  discover  the 
most  obvious  forms  of  deceit,  from  double-expo- 
sures, superimposed  drawings,  and  other  devices 
of  "plate  doctoring,"  to  the  very  simple  schemes 
by  which  the  medium  fools  the  photographer.  In 
the  last  mentioned  case  it  is  often  hard  to  believe 
that  the  investigator  was  not  collaborating  with 
the  medium  in  a  plan  of  deception. 

The  mention  of  Mrs.  Lee's  psychic  photographs 
recalls  to  mind  an  experience  of  mine  during  a  lec- 
ture in  New  York  City.  I  was  speaking  of  this 
obvious  form  of  deception  and  during  my  talk  I 
held  up  to  the  audience  a  photograph  by  Mrs.  Lee, 
reproduced  by  Dr.  Hereward  Carrington  in  his 
book,  "Modern  Psychical  Phenomena"  (opp.  p. 
132),  described  by  him  (p.  132)  as  a  "profile  of 
Dr.  R.,  the  balance  of  the  plate  being  filled  with 

^  See  Appendix  II. 


SPIRIT  PHOTOGRAPHY 

A  FAKED  GHOST  ON    A   REAL   PHOTOGRAPH  ;    TAKEN    UNDER 
conditions"   in   CAMBRIDGE,    MASS. 

(see  appendix  iv) 


TEST 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   73 

faces,  most  of  which  are  strikingly  biblical  in 
character."  At  the  same  time  I  held  up  a  copy  of 
Hoffman's  "Christ  Before  the  Doctors."  A  com- 
parison of  the  two  pictures  made  it  immediately 
obvious  that  the  "biblical"  faces  had  simply  been 
clipped  from  a  reproduction  of  Hoffman's  paint- 
ing. Dr.  Carrington  was  in  my  audience,  and 
with  that  splendid  fairness  that  has  marked  all  his 
research,  he  arose  and  declared  publicly  that  the 
picture  would  not  appear  in  any  subsequent  edi- 
tion of  his  work.  I  mention  this  not  to  detract 
from  the  work  of  Dr.  Carrington,  than  whom 
there  is  no  abler  and  more  honest  scientific  inves- 
tigator of  psychical  phenomena  today,  but  to  point 
out  how  easily  "spirit  photography"  can  be  pro- 
duced.   ( See  Appendix  IV. ) 

So  much  of  the  phenomena  adduced  in  favor  of 
Spiritism  has  been  shown,  after  careful  investiga- 
tion and  after  the  confessions  of  mediums  them- 
selves, to  be  the  result  of  trickery  and  deceit,  that 
one  finds  it  difficult  to  give  each  "new  and  start- 
ling" piece  of  evidence  the  fair  and  disinterested 
consideration  which  the  pursuit  of  scientific  truth 
demands.  The  suspicion  that  fraud  and  trickery 
are  lurking  somewhere  and  that  the  overwhelm- 
ing evidence  of  today  will  be  overthrown  by  the 
exposure  of  tomorrow,  cannot  be  cast  aside.  And 
is  there  any  wonder  when  one  recalls  the  names 


74  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

of  the  greatest  mediums  who  persuaded  scientific 
men  of  the  genuineness  of  their  demonstrations 
and  afterwards  were  detected  in  deceit  or  con- 
fessed it  ?  Among-  the  Americans,  there  are  such 
names  as  the  Fox  sisters,  Bly,  Colchester,  Foster, 
the  Davenport  brothers,  Mrs.  Fay,  "Dr.  Slade," 
Florence  Cook,  Eglinton,  Mumler;  those  among 
the  English  are  Mary  Showers,  Hudson,  Heme, 
Williams,  Rite,  "Dr."  Monck,  Petty  and  Farman ; 
among  the  French,  Buguet,  Debord,  and  Madame 
Amouroux;  Frau  Rothe  from  Germany;  and  the 
famous  Eusapia  Palladino  from  Italy.  For  a 
slight  idea  of  the  various  methods  of  the  numer- 
ous impostors  who  have  worked  under  the  banner 
of  Spiritism  one  has  only  to  glance  through 
works  such  as :  Abbott's  "Behind  the  Scenes  with 
the  Mediums,"  J.  Frances  Reed's  "Truth  and 
Facts  Pertaining  to  Spiritualism,"  Weatherly's 
and  Maskelyne's  "The  Supernatural?"  Baldwin's 
"The  Secrets  of  Mahatma  Land  Explained," 
Clodd's  "The  Question,"  and — most  striking  of  all 
— Dr.  Carrington's  "The  Physical  Phenomena  of 
Spiritualism." 

I  do  not  claim  that  all  phenomena  are  fraudu- 
lent. Here  I  am  referring  to  "psychical  phe- 
nomena," a  classification  which  has  its  genuine 
examples;  but  note  that  I  do  not  say  that  Spiritism 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   75 

has  any  genuine,  scientific  basis.     On  this  point 
I  might  say,  with  Professor  Flournoy: 

"Spiritism,  as  I  understand  it,  is  a  complete 
error.  The  facts  which  I  have  been  enabled  to 
study  at  first  hand  have  left  me  with  the  im- 
pression that,  despite  certain  superficial  appear- 
ances which  the  man  in  the  street  accepts  as 
conclusive,  these  phenomena  are  not  spiritistic 
in  reality,  and  one  would  be  greatly  deceived  if 
he  accepted  them  at  their  face  value."  ("Spir- 
itism and  Psychology"  pref.,  p.  viii.) 

But  there  are  some  facts,  after  the  elimination 
of  all  fraudulent  evidence  and  after  the  elimina- 
tion of  all  evidence  which  has  its  origin  in  the 
mind  and  powers  of  the  medium  only,  which  de- 
serve consideration  as  real  psychical  phenomena^ 
as  I  have  defined  that  term.  Again  I  repeat  that 
this  does  not  mean  that  even  if  certain  phenomena 
are  proved  psychical  that  they  are  therefore  spir- 
itistic. To  prove  that  is  another  problem,  and  its 
burden  lies  heavily  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Spir- 
itists. 

In  my  next  chapter  I  shall  endeavor  to  elimi- 
nate phenomena  that  are  traceable  to  the  medium 
solely  and  bear  no  relation  to  the  other  mind. 
When  that  is  done  we  may  more  quickly  move  on 
with  our  quest  for  true  psychical  phenomena* 


VIII 

RESEARCH   FOR  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA!  THE 

FORCE 

IN  this  chapter,  which  forms  another  step  in 
the  process  of  elimination,  I  come  to  phenom- 
ena which  are  unusual  and,  as  far  as  it  is  possible 
to  determine,  free  from  fraud. 

In  the  treatment,  a  distinction  previously  made 
will  be  used,  the  distinction  between  the  force  that 
produces  the  phenomena,  and  the  mind  that  di- 
rects the  force.  A  brief  consideration  of  the  force 
or  physical  part  of  these  unusual  phenomena  will 
show  that  in  most  cases  a  natural  explanation  is 
probable,  and  in  the  remaining  cases,  possible. 

Later,  a  consideration  of  the  few  phenomena 
that  point  clearly  to  the  direction  of  an  outside 
mind,  will  likewise  show  that  a  natural  explana- 
tion of  this  outside  mind  is  in  most  cases  probable. 
Consequently  there  will  be  left  but  a  few  cases 
which  do  not  readily  admit  the  possibility  of  a 
natural  explanation.  It  is  then  that  we  shall 
have  reached  the  bottom  of  the  matter.  And  it  is 
then  that  we  shall  endeavor  to  answer  the  ques- 

76 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE    yy 

tion:  Which  of  the  three  hypotheses,  the  spir- 
itistic, the  diabolical,  or  the  natural,  offers  the 
most  probable  explanation  of  these  remaining  phe- 
nomena? 

I  shall  here  consider  briefly  various  natural  phe- 
nomena, which  are  nevertheless  constantly  intro- 
duced as  overwhelming  evidence  in  favor  of 
Spiritism.  Here  I  treat  of  the  force  or  physical 
part  of  the  phenomena.  Later,  I  shall  discuss 
whether  or  not  there  is  an  unseen  intellectual 
agent  at  work. 

First,  we  consider  phenomena,  the  unusual 
character  of  which  may  be  traced  to  some  mental 
or  physical  disorder,  or  both. 

Clairvoyance:  the  supposed  supernormal  fac- 
ulty of  seeing  persons  and  events  which  are  dis- 
tant in  time  or  place,  and  of  which  it  is  supposed 
no  knowledge  can  reach  the  seer  through  normal 
sense-channels.  The  faculty  is  usually  exercised 
in  the  trance  state.  When  a  glass  globule  is  used 
by  the  seer  in  a  waking  state,  it  is  called  crystal- 
gazing.  The  physical  part  of  clairvoyance  may 
be  very  obviously  classified  under  the  head  of  hal- 
lucination. It  must  be  remembered  that  here  I  do 
not  refer  to  any  messages  that  are  given  by  a  me- 
dium exercising  this  faculty  of  clairvoyance. 

Clairaudience:  the  supposed  supernormal  fac- 
ulty of  hearing  sounds  or  words  inaudible  to  the 


78  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

normal  ear,  affording  knowledge  of  present,  past, 
or  future  events,  which  knowledge  could  not  have 
reached  the  medium  through  normal  sense-chan- 
nels. This  faculty,  too,  is  exercised  often  in  the 
trance  state.  When  it  is  exercised  in  the  wak- 
ing state,  a  shell  or  small  sounding  board  is  em- 
ployed to  provoke  activity.  The  physical  part  of 
clairaudience,  like  that  of  clairvoyance,  can  be  eas- 
ily explained  by  the  natural,  though  abnormal 
phenomenon  of  hallucination. 

Hallucination  is  "a  false  perception  of  sensory 
vividness  arising  without  the  stimulus  of  a  cor- 
responding sense-impression."  It  differs  from 
"illusion"  in  that  it  is  not  merely  the  misinterpre- 
tation of  an  actual  sense  perception.  Visual  and 
auditory  hallucinations  are  very  common.  Almost 
all  of  us  have  experienced  at  some  time  or  other 
the  hallucination  of  a  song  or  tune  which  haunts 
our  ear,  sometimes  for  days.  Our  dreams  are  but 
forms  of  hallucination.  Hallucinations  are  usu- 
ally associated  with  various  mental  and  physical 
diseases,  sometimes  the  effects  of  drugs  or  liquors, 
and  some  hallucinations  far  surpass  true  sensorial 
impressions  in  their  vividness.  Indeed,  a  victim 
of  a  strong  hallucination  cannot  distinguish  be- 
tween his  purely  subjective  sensations  and  those 
that  are  objectively  produced.  Hallucination  is 
often  accompanied  by  a  change  of  voice,  just  as 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   79 

some  people  who  talk  in  their  sleep,  talk  in  voices 
different  from  their  waking-  hours.  The  voice, 
too,  may  seem  to  come  from  a  distant  point,  and 
not  from  the  person  under  the  hallucination.  It  is 
very  easy  to  understand  how  anyone  who  is  sub- 
ject to  vivid  hallucinations,  especially  in  a  semi- 
conscious state,  can  confuse  the  subjective  and  ob- 
jective impressions  of  both  the  ear  and  the  eye. 
And  it  is  also  easy  to  see  how  so  many  have  made 
the  error  of  considering  even  the  physical  part  of 
clairvoyance  or  clairaudience,  a  supernormal  phe- 
nomenon, and  endeavored  to  adduce  it  as  evidence 
of  the  influence  of  spirits. 

Another  phenomenon  met  with  in  an  investiga- 
tion of  Spiritism  is  that  of  materialisation.  A 
materialisation  is  the  formation,  through  medi- 
umistic  powers,  of  an  ephemeral  or  temporary 
physical  organization,  visible,  sometimes  palpa- 
ble, and  susceptible  of  being  photographed.  It  is 
obvious  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  between 
materialization  and  clairvoyance,  for  in  clairvoy- 
ance the  sensible  object  can  be  seen  by  the  medium 
alone.  A  "materialization"  is  the  scientific  name 
for  a  ghost,  when  the  apparition  is  called  forth  by 
a  medium.  Primarily,  it  is  a  luminous  phenome- 
non. It  is  also  material,  or  such  is  the  assump- 
tion, for  proof  of  the  senses  is  not  available  since 
such  apparitions  cannot  be  touched  "without  in- 


8o   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

juring  the  sensibility  of  the  medium,"  as  the  me- 
dium is  considered  to  have  a  vital  connection  with 
the  ghost. 

There  is  nothing  so  extraordinary  about  the 
physical  part  of  materialization  that  one  need  look 
beyond  nature  for  an  explanation.  There  are 
many  mineral  substances  which  possess  a  phos- 
phorescent or  fluorescent,  or,  to  use  the  ordinary 
word,  a  luminous  power.  The  so-called  "radium" 
used  in  recent  years  to  illuminate  watch  faces  is 
familiar  to  everybody.  There  are  plants  in  trop- 
ical countries  that  exhibit  this  phenomenon,  and 
the  phosphorescent  glow  of  tropical  seas  caused 
by  the  presence  of  myriad  luminous  infusoria,  as 
well  as  the  existence  of  luminous  fishes  in  the  dark 
sea  depths,  is  commonly  known.  There  are  the 
fire  fly,  the  glowing  eyes  of  owl  or  cat,  the  lumi- 
nosity of  the  human  retina,  under  some  condi- 
tions, to  bear  witness  to  this  very  natural  effect. 
The  ordinary  man  has  in  his  body  phosphorus  suf- 
ficient for  the  manufacture  of  more  than  half  a 
million  matches.  It  is  not  a  mere  fancy,  then,  to 
believe  that  in  some  circumstances  our  body,  or  at 
least  some  parts  of  it,  may  become  luminous 
enough  to  produce  a  sensible  glow  or  halo  that  can 
impress  a  photographic  plate.  Mr.  Walter  J.  Kil- 
ner  of  London  in  his  recent  book,  "The  Human 
Aura,"  asserts  that  by  the  use  of  "dicyanin,"  a 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  8i 

coal  tar  dye,  he  has  succeeded  in  making  the  hu- 
man aura  visible  to  the  human  eye,  thus  transfer- 
ring the  study  of  this  "occult  phenomenon"  to  the 
province  of  physics. 

The  assertion  that  this  luminous  emanation  is 
susceptible  to  touch  and  may  be  weighed,  does  not 
detract  from,  but  adds  rather  to,  the  evidence  for 
a  purely  natural  explanation.  It  must  be  stated, 
however,  that  the  proofs  of  this  assertion  (''Phe- 
nomena of  Materialization,"  Baron  von  Schrenck 
Notzing)  rest  on  very  dubious  ground/  The 
study  of  "materialization"  is  at  present  in  a  very 
crude  state,  and  the  conclusions  from  that  study 
afford  little  help  in  determining  an  explanation. 
That  the  explanation  may  be  found  in  ordinary 
nature,  however,  is  most  probable.  There  is  no 
difficulty  in  admitting  that  under  some  morbid  or 
abnormal  conditions  a  luminous  emanation  may 
appear  around  the  body  of  a  medium. 

Another  unusual  phenomenon  which  is  a  sub- 
ject of  constant  discussion  is  automatic  writing. 
Automatic  writing  is  executed  without  the  medi- 
um's volition  and  sometimes  without  the  medi- 
um's knowledge.  The  medium,  for  example,  holds 
a  pencil  over  a  pad  of  paper  and  suddenly,  with- 
out any  conscious  control  the  hand  moves  the  pen- 
cil to  inscribe  a  message.    The  message  is  some- 

*  See  Appendix  III, 


82   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

times  of  an  astonishing*  character,  apparently  be- 
yond the  power  of  the  medium.  The  messages  of 
the  ouija  board  are  but  a  form  of  automatic  writ- 
ing, though  the  method  of  production  is  different. 
Is  there  anything  extraordinary  about  the  phys- 
ical part  of  automatic  writing,  anything  so  baf- 
fling as  to  surpass  all  possibility  of  a  natural  ex- 
planation? Nothing.  (The  message  is  another 
question.)  The  physical  part  of  automatic  writ- 
ing or  of  the  movement  of  the  indicator  over  the 
ouija  board,  is  little  different  from  that  exercised 
in  the  many  forms  of  somnambulism.  Somnam- 
bulism is  a  natural  though  abnormal  condition  in 
which  talking,  walking,  and  other  actions  of  a 
more  complicated  nature  are  performed  during 
sleep  without  the  agent's  consciousness  or  after- 
recollection.  Somnambulists,  or  sleep-walkers, 
are  of  different  classes :  A,  those  who  speak  with- 
out acting — automatic  speaking ;  B,  those  who  act 
without  speaking;  C,  those  who  both  act  and 
speak ;  D,  those  who,  besides  acting  and  speaking, 
have  the  sense  of  touch  active,  and  also  possess 
active  senses  of  sight  and  hearing.  This  last  class 
merges  into  the  physiological  condition  of  mes- 
merism or  hypnotism.  All  these  various  forms 
of  somnambulism  are  natural  though  abnormal 
phenomena  and  a  study  of  them  is  the  object  of 
branches  of  physiology  and  allied  sciences.     It 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   83 

raust  be  remembered  that  sleep-walkers  do  not 
merely  walk,  but  under  some  conditions  perform 
actions  of  a  complicated  nature  which  are  far 
from  being  simply  mechanical,  such  as  the  writing 
of  letters,  reports,  poetry,  etc.,  the  making  of 
sketches,  the  playing  of  musical  instruments,  and 
the  accomplishing  of  physical  feats,  such  as  swim- 
ming, which  the  agent  in  a  conscious  state  could 
not  accomplish.  In  a  word,  the  somnambulist 
"acts  his  dream"  whether  his  dream  is  of  mechan- 
ical action  or  of  intellectual  activity,  as  in  the 
writing  of  poetry  or  the  solving  of  a  mathematical 
problem.  There  is  no  good  reason  for  seeking  be- 
yond abnormal  natural  activity  for  an  explanation 
of  the  force  producing  automatic  writing  and  talk- 
ing. The  automatic  writer,  whether  awake  or  in 
a  trance,  bears  too  close  a  resemblance  to  the  som- 
nambulist, and  the  phenomena  bear  too  close  a 
resemblance  to  somnambulistic  phenomena,  to 
lead  one  to  search  for  an  hypothesis  that  does  not 
start  with  nature. 

Consideration  of  the  physical  part  of  the  trance 
— that  most  prominent  of  all  ''spiritistic"  phe- 
nomena— brings  one  to  a  similar  conclusion. 
There  is  no  accurate  definition  of  what  a  medium- 
istic  trance  is,  but  there  are  many  descriptions 
of  the  various  ways  in  which  this  phenomenon  is 
observed  in  different  mediums.    It  is  best  to  give 


84  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

a  general  definition  and  then  endeavor  to  explain. 
Accordingly,  a  mediumistic  trance  may  be  con- 
sidered as  an  abnormal  state  resembling  in  many 
particulars  the  somnambulistic  state,  but  also  re- 
sembling in  some  degree  the  hypnotic  state,  dur- 
ing which  the  medium  frequently  displays  an  exal- 
tation of  memory  (hypermnesia)  or  of  the  senses 
(hyperesthesia)  or  even  of  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties. Although  the  medium  appears  at  times  to 
fall  into  a  deep  sleep,  and  to  retain,  on  regaining 
the  normal  condition,  no  memory  of  any  experi- 
ence during  the  trance,  in  spite  of  this  uncon- 
sciousness, it  seems  that  the  medium  displays  in- 
telligence in  her  movements,  speech  and  writing, 
whether  exercised  spontaneously  or  in  response  to 
verbal  interrogation,  and  even  greater  intelligence 
than  in  her  conscious  state,  together  with  greater 
emotional  activity.  In  many  cases  the  parts  of 
the  medium's  body  not  directly  at  work  remain 
in  a  complete  lethargic  condition.  In  these  cases 
the  medium  often  writes  automatically  or  talks  au- 
tomatically, or  does  both,  displaying  a  knowledge 
of  which  in  her  normal  state  she  has  no  experi- 
ence. According  to  some  reports  this  knowledge 
is  of  such  an  extraordinary  character  as  to  admit 
of  no  satisfactory  explanation  save  that  of  a  third 
mind.  This  brief  description  is  sufficient  to  show 
how  difficult  it  is,  even  for  experts,  to  distinguish 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   85 

the  trance  state  from  the  somnambulistic  or  hyp- 
notic state,  or  from  similar  abnormal  physiologi- 
cal states,  or  from  a  state  that  is  a  combination  of 
them.  This  description  is  sufficient  also,  to  show 
that  there  is  no  need,  for  the  explanation  of  the 
physical  part  of  a  trance,  to  leave  the  realm  of 
natural  hypotheses.  A  consideration  of  the  mes- 
sage, or  the  knowledge,  given  out  during  a  trance, 
is  reserved  for  the  chapters  that  deal  with  this  di- 
vision of  our  study. 

Volumes  could  be  devoted  to  the  investigation 
of  the  trance  alone,  but  it  is  not  the  purpose  of 
this  book  to  give  an  exhaustive  study  of  all  or  any 
of  the  phenomena  connected  in  recent  years  with 
the  study  of  Spiritism,  but  rather  to  show  how 
few  of  these  phenomena  have  any  bearing  on  the 
spiritistic  hypothesis,  and  to  point  out  how  feebly 
those  few  uphold  that  hypothesis,  and  by  this  elim- 
ination, and  also  by  this  outline,  to  clear  the  way 
for  those  who  study  the  question  hereafter.  It  is 
for  these  reasons  that  I  emphasize  the  distinction 
between  the  mind  at  work  and  the  force  at  work, 
and  it  is  for  these  reasons  that  I  insist  that  be- 
cause certain  phenomena  may  be  inexplicable  they 
are  not  therefore  spiritistic. 

Perhaps  the  most  common  phenomena  met  with 
in  this  study  are  "raps"  and  the  movement  and 
levitation  of  tables  and  other  objects.  These  raps 


86   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

and  disturbances  may  have  a  meaning  or  they  may 
not.  "Evidence  for  'raps'  is  good,"  says  Mr. 
Northcote  Whiteridge,  "and  there  is  respectable 
evidence  for  movements  of  objects."  (Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica,  "Medium.")  Raps  occur  usually 
under  circumstances  such  as  these :  the  medium  is 
in  the  room  vi^hich  is  in  darkness,  partial  or  total ; 
suddenly,  on  summons  or  spontaneously,  a  tapping 
is  heard,  usually  light,  on  the  tables,  chairs,  walls, 
etc.,  without  the  intervention  of  any  apparent 
physical  agent.  The  levitation  or  movement  of 
tables  and  other  objects  occurs  under  similar 
circumstances.  Sometimes  the  objects  moved  or 
levitated  are  touched  slightly  by  the  medium; 
sometimes  there  is  no  physical  contact. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  force  in  these  phenomena 
is  unknown.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  seeking  a 
preternatural  cause.  Nature,  as  we  know  it,  ex- 
hibits a  force  similar  to  this :  magnetism.  Load- 
stone, for  example,  can  attract  steel,  and  can 
communicate  this  property  by  contact.  A  piece  of 
amber  after  rubbing  will  attract  bits  of  paper.  A 
horse-shoe  magnet  will  attract  iron  filings,  and  the 
filings  around  the  poles  will  arrange  themselves 
in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  the  field  and  direction 
of  the  magnetic  force.  Why  ?  We  do  not  know. 
We  know  the  fact.  We  do  not  know  the  explana- 
tion.   A  powerful  horse-shoe  magnet  will  not  at- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  87 

tract  the  bits  of  paper.  A  stick  of  amber  will  not 
attract  the  filings.  Why?  Again,  we  do  not 
know.  The  ordinary  phenomena  of  magnetism  do 
not  bring  the  consternation  to  us  that  the  magician 
and  his  huge  electric  magnet  brought  to  the 
African  blacks  some  years  ago.  But  it  is  not  be- 
cause we  know  the  reason  of  magnetism  any  more 
than  the  African  natives.  It  is  simply  because  we 
know  how  to  direct  the  force. 

In  spite  of  all  the  efforts  to  interpret  raps  and 
levitation  as  supernatural  activities,  the  phenom- 
ena in  their  physical  part  remain  very  much  of 
the  earth,  and,  as  experiments  continue,  appear 
more  and  more  analogous  to  the  phenomena  of 
magnetism.  They  may  have  some  direct  relation 
to  gravitational  force,  or  they  may  not.  But,  at 
any  rate,  rapid  strides  are  being  made  in  directing 
the  force  behind  them.  Dr.  W.  J.  Crawford  ap- 
parently has  successfully  applied  the  laws  of 
physics  to  the  phenomena.  (See  "Experiments  in 
Psychical  Science.")  He  sets  down  as  one  of  the 
rules  of  a  productive  seance  that  ''The  phenom- 
ena must  not  be  produced  spontaneously,  but  must 
be  under  command."  ("The  Reality  of  Psychic 
Phenomena,"  p.  3.)  The  phenomena  of  levitation 
and  raps  seem  to  be  in  the  same  state  that  the 
phenomena  of  electricity  were  in  a  hundred  years 
ago.    No  one  today  screams  "The  devil!"  at  the 


88   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

sight  of  an  electric  spark.  And  yet  today  we  do 
not  know  what  an  electron  is.  We  know  some  of 
its  phenomena  and  how  to  control  them. 

Dr.  Carring-ton  quotes  a  very  interesting  ex- 
periment of  Professor  Maxwell  and  his  friend,  M. 
Meurice,  given  in  the  Professor's  book:  "Meta- 
physical Phenomena,"  p.  291. 

''When  I  tried  an  experiment  ...  I  bade  M. 
Meurice  sit  in  an  armchair  and  lie  perfectly  still. 
I  placed  his  arm  at  about  one  foot  from  the 
table  and  told  him  to  fancy  he  lifted  his  arm 
and  struck  the  table,  without,  of  course,  mak- 
ing the  slightest  movement. 

"We  obtained  some  excellent  raps  in  this 
way.  This  is  a  fine  experiment  for  it  shows 
clearly  the  production  of  raps  by  the  will — the 
direct,  conscious  and  personal  will. 

"We  tried  three  series  of  experiments:  six 
raps  in  each  series  were  willed;  we  received 
four  raps  in  each,  that  is  to  say,  66  per  cent,  of 
success.  The  raps  were  loud,  one  was  double. 
The  medium  nearly  fainted  after  this  experi- 
ment, but  came  round  quickly,  though  he  has 
not  been  well  since."  (Dr.  Carrington's  "The 
Physical  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism,"  p.  345.) 

Here  is  another  point.  The  existence  of  human 
magnetism  has  been  a  subject  of  much  dispute,  but 
there  never  has  been  advanced  any  good  reason 
for  denying  the  possibility  of  it.  Now,  I  have  dis- 
covered from  my  own  experience  and  from  what 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  89 

I  have  read  and  heard  in  consultation  with  au- 
thorities, that  a  medium,  while  he  or  she  can  at- 
tract a  wooden  table  of  heavy  weight  and  levitate 
it,  cannot  attract  or  move  a  metal  table  that  is 
smaller  and  lighter  or  of  the  same  size  and  weight. 
Dr.  Carrington  told  me  that  Eusapia  Palladino 
always  refused  to  work  with  a  table  on  which 
there  were  metal  ornaments  or  even  nails,  assert- 
ing that  she  could  not  levitate  a  table  if  it  had 
metal  in  or  attached  to  it.  Dr.  Crawford  in  his 
"Hints  and  Observations  for  Those  Investigating 
the  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism"  declares  (p.  78, 

79): 

*'The  type  of  table  used  in  these  experiments 
is  of  some  importance  if  good  results  are  hoped 
for.  To  begin  with,  it  should  be  made  of  wood, 
and  a  wood  of  not  too  great  density.  An  open 
porous  wood  is  also  best  for  the  reason  that  the 
psychic  energy — which,  as  I  have  said,  seems 
to  be  associated  with  matter  in  one  of  its  finest 
forms — appears  to  be  required  to  be  stored  up 
in  the  wood,  and  if  the  latter  is  too  dense  and 
hard,  these  particles  of  matter  cannot  effect  a 
satisfactory  lodgment." 

Dr.  Crawford,  in  his  latest  experiments,  says 
that  out  of  the  medium's  body  extends  a  sort  of 
rod,  and  this  rod  or  prolongated  arm  is  what 
moves  the  tables  and  produces  the  raps.  ("Ex- 
periments in  Psychical  Science,"  19 19.)    I  do  not 


90  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

admit  or  reject  this  proposition.  I  offer  it  only 
as  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  possibihty  of  a 
force  emerging  from  the  medium's  body  in  a  way 
similar  to  the  magnetic  force  from  the  loadstone. 
It  must  not  be  imagined  that  here  I  endeavor 
to  give  an  explanation  of  the  physical  side  of  levi- 
tation,  raps,  etc.  I  merely  advance  some  few 
ideas  out  of  many,  which  go  to  show  that  a  nat- 
ural explanation  of  these  phenomena  is  very  pos- 
sible. I  maintain  that  the  force  or  forces  Vv'hich 
produce  the  phenomena  mentioned  in  this  chap- 
ter may  be  ascribed  to  the  list  of  already  known 
natural  forces  or  compared  with  other  forces  al- 
ready known  to  us.  At  best  (for  the  spiritists), 
it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is  almost  impossible  in 
cases  under  dispute  to  decide  whether  the  physical 
part  of  the  phenomena  is  to  be  traced  to  some  ab- 
normal, though  natural,  condition  of  the  medium 
or  to  some  preternatural  force.. 


IX 


RESEARCH   FOR  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA:  THE 

MESSAGE 

ALTHOUGH  Spiritists  have  widely  adver- 
tised the  physical  part  of  unusual  phenomena 
as  evidence  for  their  belief,  it  must  be  clear  to  any- 
one who  will  give  the  matter  even  a  little  thought 
that  these  unusual  phenomena  must  be  proved  to 
be  the  product  of  preternatural  forces,  at  least, 
before  they  can  be  offered  as  evidence  in  support 
of  the  Spiritistic  hypothesis.  Spiritists  are  very 
far  from  having  proved  this  point.  And  a  diffi- 
cult task  is  in  their  hands,  for  it  is  far  more  rea- 
sonable and  possible  to  prove  that  the  physical 
part  of  unusual  phenomena  is  simply  the  product 
of  natural,  though  abnormal,  forces.  It  is  tedious 
to  have  to  repeat  this  thought  on  so  many  occa- 
sions, but  it  must  be  made  clear  that  the  unique- 
ness or  strangeness  of  a  phenomenon  in  no  way 
proves  that  it  is  the  product  of  a  spiritistic  force. 
The  error  is  as  common  as  it  is  childish.  The 
Spiritist  interprets  every  unusual  occurrence  at  a 
seance  as  evidence  in  favor  of  his  theory.    And 

91 


92   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

his  opponent  either  denies  the  occurrence  itself, 
or  laboriously  tries  to  prove  it  the  product  of  fraud 
or  caused  by  the  Devil.  Yet  the  phenomenon  is, 
in  all  probability,  the  effect  of  some  natural  but 
abnormal  power. 

The  mind  that  directs  the  force  so  that  a  mes- 
sage is  produced  is  the  factor  that  must  be  looked 
to  for  spiritistic  evidence.  I  say  "so  that  a  mes- 
sage is  produced/'  because  it  is  only  by  a  study  of 
the  message  that  we  may  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of 
the  other  mind  outside  that  of  the  medium.  I 
think  this  must  be  clear.  If,  for  example,  a  table 
tips  at  a  seance,  there  is  no  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  a  mind  other  than  the  medium's  is  di- 
recting the  force  that  tips  it.  If,  however,  the 
table  is  tipped  so  that  it  produces  a  message,  the 
content  of  which  is  entirely  outside  of  the  medi- 
um's knowledge  and  experience,  then  we  are  justi- 
fied in  assuming  that  a  mind  other  than  the  me- 
dium's is  at  work,  and  we  are  acting  reasonably 
when  we  attempt  to  discover  just  what  and  where 
that  outside  mind  is. 

In  this  chapter  we  begin  our  study  of  these  mes- 
sages, whether  they  are  produced  by  table-tipping, 
raps,  automatic  writing,  crystal-gazing,  working 
the  ouija  board,  or  what  not.  Following  our  pre- 
vious method,  we  shall  try  first  to  eliminate  those 
messages  which,  of  however  startling  a  character, 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   93 

may  nevertheless  be  produced  by  the  medium 
through  trickery  or  through  the  powers  of  his  or 
her  subconscious  mind.  (As  will  be  explained 
later,  "subconscious  mind"  is  used  here  in  no  rigid 
sense,  but  merely  to  denote  the  acting  of  the  mind 
which  is  unconscious,  or  "not  yet  conscious,"  as 
one  prefers  to  interpret  the  term.) 

Fraud  plays  such  a  prominent  part  in  the  pro- 
duction of  messages  that  I  will  devote  a  little 
space  here  to  the  devious  methods  employed  by 
mediums  in  the  use  of  it. 

The  effect  of  any  message  is  startling  when  its 
source,  whether  natural  or  preternatural,  guess- 
work, playfulness,  or  deliberate  deceit,  cannot  be 
determined  at  the  time  the  message  is  received. 
For  the  moment  we  are  astonished.  It  is  the  same 
mysterious  impression  that  a  conjuror  incites 
when  he  conceals  from  us  the  connection  between 
the  cause  and  the  effect.  Accordingly,  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  judge  the  power  of  the  message  by 
the  effect  it  produces  on  us,  but  only  after  we 
have  made  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  cause, 
and  determined  that  it  is,  at  least,  extraordinary. 

One  attends  an  ordinary  seance,  and  is  aston- 
ished when  the  medium,  through  her  "control," 
or  accomplice  "in  the  other  world,"  it  is  intimated 
or  declared,  tells  the  auditor  something  about  his 
past  or  present  life,  or  about  his  dead  or  living 


94  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

relatives  or  friends,  that  he  thought  few  or  he 
himself  alone  had  known.  He  is  entirely  ignorant 
of  how  the  information  was  obtained.  The  effect 
startles  him,  and  he  assumes  the  intimated  cause 
to  be  the  correct  one.    Yet,  if  he  only  knew ! 

One  method  of  obtaining  this  information  is  so 
simple  that  it  rarely  occurs  to  the  auditor's  mind. 
And  still  the  effect  is  considered  marvellous.  I 
refer  to  the  gathering  of  information  before  a 
seance.  Before  I  give  a  lecture  in  a  city,  I  go 
about  visiting  the  friends  and  relatives  of  persons 
who  are  to  attend  the  meeting.  These  short  visits 
supply  me  with  a  vast  stock  of  information,  some 
of  it  being  so  small  and  unimportant  (for  exam- 
ple, the  number  of  a  watch)  that  the  "victim"  is 
just  so  much  the  more  amazed.  If  one  begins 
with  a  small  bit  of  information,  the  clever  cross- 
examination,  especially  when  the  one  examined  is 
somewhat  puzzled,  will  produce  much  more.  This 
examination  is  called  "fishing"  and  is  a  very  fruit- 
ful resource  for  a  medium  who  is  caught  unpre- 
pared. 

J.  Frances  Reed,  one-time  public  medium,  in  her 
book,  "Truth  and  Facts  Pertaining  to  Spiritual- 
ism," gives  an  interesting  account  of  how  medi- 
ums obtain  information  on  a  large  scale,  by  the 
aid  of  a  "dope  book.' 


>> 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   95 

"In  every  city  throughout  the  world  there  are 
any  number  of  mediums  practising  these  differ- 
ent phases  of  mediumship,  and  in  order  to  hold 
their  patronage,  it  is  very  essential  that  they 
keep  on  hand  a  good  stock  of  this  information ; 
so  every  medium  makes  a  'dope  book,'  and  keeps 
it  where  he  or  she  can  refer  to  it  on  a  moment's 
notice.  The  author  will  first  explain  the  many 
different  ways  that  these  mediums  secure  this 
information.  A  medium  is  always  on  the  alert 
and  makes  memoranda  from  the  conversation 
of  the  sitters.  They  also  watch  the  daily  pa- 
pers for  death  notices,  etc.,  and  also  secure  a 
great  deal  of  information  by  making  indirect 
inquiries.  Children  are  also  a  great  help  to 
them  in  securing  this  desired  information.  Some 
of  these  mediums,  on  a  pretense  of  looking  for 
a  lost  or  departed  friend,  will  visit  the  coroner's 
office,  where  a  record  is  kept  of  all  deaths. 
They  will  also  look  over  the  burial  certificates 
of  the  undertaking  establishments"  (p.  27,  28). 

The  same  author  goes  into  some  detail  explain- 
ing further  how  this  "dope"  is  gathered  from 
tombstone  to  family  Bible. 

".  .  .  it  would  be  very  interesting  for  some 
of  these  credulous  spiritualists  to  read  one  of 
these  mediums'  dope  books,  and  they  certainly 
would  be  shocked  if  they  could  hear  a  few  of 
these  mediums  trading  and  swapping  their  dope 
and  telling  who  were  the  easy  marks,  and  giv- 
ing the  names  of  their  departed  dead.     If  a 


96   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

strange  medium  arrives  in  a  city  he  at  once 
hunts  up  the  most  prominent  mediums  and  re- 
ceives this  so-called  'dope'  .  .  ."  (p.  29). 

On  the  following  pages  of  her  book  the  author 
gives  some  extracts  from  a  "dope  book."  One  is 
particularly  interesting.    It  runs : 

"Allen,  Hattie  M.— widow— friend  of 
Jesse  Carr,  dressmaker  of  Chicago;  she 
has  her  mother's  estate  to  settle  in  Ten- 
nessee; maiden  name,  Hattie  Clure; 
mother's  name  before  marriage,  Hop- 
kins. 

"Husband's  name — Edmund  P.  (I  have 
kept  my  promise  to  come  back)  (died 
1907).  She  has  living  sister,  Mrs.  O.  J. 
Babcock,  living  with  her.  She  does  not 
believe  in  Spiritualism;  is  a  Catholic. 
(Will  she  ever  see  the  truth?)  (She 
will  learn  in  the  spirit  world.) 

"Father's  name,  J.  R.  Clure.  He  had  long 
black  beard.  Daughter  Emma  died  when 
a  baby.  Has  daughter  living,  Mrs.  Lu- 
cile  Hanford,  in  Chicago." 

Dr.  Carrington  quotes  an  interesting  passage 
from  Truesdell's  "Bottom  Facts,"  p.  310-12 
("Physical  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism,"  p.  313, 

314): 

"The  most  feasible  way  of  introducing  your- 
self to  a  new  town  is  by  means  of  a  systematic 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  97 

canvass  of  the  same,  with  the  ostensible  pur- 
pose of  disposing  of  some  manner  of  merchan- 
dise, such  as  books,  patent  medicines,  and  house- 
hold utensils.  Do  not  disclose  to  anyone  your 
real  business,  or  ultimate  design.  Keep  your 
eyes  and  ears  open,  and  learn  all  you  possibly 
can,  both  of  the  living  and  the  dead,  among 
prominent  Spiritualists.  Provide  yourself  with 
a  blank  book  suitable  for  the  pocket,  which  con- 
tains an  index.  Under  the  proper  letter,  record 
every  name  and  date  which  you  imagine  may 
be  of  future  service.  From  these  notes,  you 
will  be  able  to  prepare,  at  your  leisure,  such  a 
history  as  will  materially  assist  you  afterward." 

Truesdell  also  gives  instructions  how  to  find 
who  are  the  principal  spiritualists  in  town,  and 
how  to  obtain  information  of  them  at  the  post- 
office  or  news-room  of  the  town. 

"This  preliminary  work  is  called  'planting  a 
town.'  The  larger  the  area  planted,  and  the 
more  thorough  the  work,  the  more  abundant 
the  harvest.  When  you  have  carefully  can- 
vassed one  town,  according  to  these  directions, 
proceed  to  another,  and  there  repeat  your  la- 
bors. Never  think  of  entering  upon  the  harvest 
until  you  have  planted  at  least  six  towns,  though 
double  the  number  would  be  still  better.  If,  by 
any  means,  you  can  sustain  yourself  for  a  pe- 
riod sufficient  to  thoroughly  plant  from  twelve 
to  twenty  large  towns,  a  good  business  is  vir- 
tually ensured  you  for  life/' 


98   SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Dr.  Carrington  speaks  of  a  "Blue  Book"  issued 
by  the  "Brotherhood  of  Mediums,"  a  great  refer- 
ence book  which  was  compiled  from  the  contribu- 
tions of  various  mediums,  and  which  contained 
vast  amounts  of  information  of  use  to  mediums 
in  seances.  ("Physical  Phenomena  of  Spiritual- 
ism," p.  314.)  This  "Blue  Book"  was  immense  in 
size.  An  idea  of  its  thoroughness  may  be  ob- 
tained from  the  fact  that  under  Boston  alone  it 
contained  data  about  seven  thousand  names.  The 
existence  of  the  "Blue  Book,"  however,  as  Dr. 
Carrington  remarks  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
work,  is  not  proved  (lb.  vi).  But  that  some  rec- 
ords of  information  are  kept  by  mediums  can 
hardly  be  doubted. 

Private  mediums  use  methods  similar  to  those 
of  public  mediums.  Sometimes,  as  their  field  is 
much  smaller,  their  work  is  much  easier.  At  other 
times,  however,  because  of  the  carefulness  with 
which  they  are  watched  while  under  investigation, 
their  work  must  be  more  insidious  and  ingenious. 
A  prominent  private  medium  who  was  demon- 
strating for  a  group  of  scientific  men  once  told 
me  a  rather  interesting  scheme  which  she  em- 
ployed to  receive  information. 

The  medium  was  secluded  in  a  country  cottage, 
and  had  no  direct  communication  with  anyone  in 
the  outside  world.     She  received  no  mail  except 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  99 

from  her  family,  and  this  mail  she  allowed  the  sci- 
entists to  open  and  examine  before  it  was  brought 
to  her.  Her  seances  were  astonishingly  success- 
ful. Her  plan  was  very  simple.  One  of  the  three 
men  examining  her  correspondence  was  an  ac- 
complice. When  he  wished  to  convey  information 
to  the  medium  he  made  dots  in  invisible  ink  under 
various  letters  in  the  communications,  thus  form- 
ing the  words  of  the  message.  The  dots  were  in- 
visible. They  were  made  apparent  only  by  the 
application  of  some  chemical  the  medium  pos- 
sessed in  a  scented  bottle,  labeled  "Perfume." 
She  followed  the  dots  through  the  pages  of  the 
letters  or  magazines  she  received,  and  thus  ob- 
tained whatever  information  was  necessary  for  a 
successful  seance. 

The  same  medium  told  me  of  another  method 
she  employed  to  obtain  information.  She  secured 
the  aid  of  an  expert  *'lip  reader"  who,  by  watch- 
ing groups  of  men  and  women  in  hotel  lobbies, 
theatre  boxes,  streets,  stores  and  homes,  supplied 
the  medium  with  information  of  such  an  unusual 
and  private  character  that  to  have  obtained  it 
otherwise  would  have  been  an  undertaking  of  the 
greatest  difficulty. 

There  are  many  other  methods  of  obtaining 
information  which  I  have  not  space  or  desire  to 
list  here.    I  give  these  few  to  show  how  easy  it  is 


loo  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

for  apparently  startling  messages  to  be  merely  the 
result  of  very  unspiritual  prying  into  the  life  and 
affairs  of  the  victim.  It  is  obvious  that,  in  our 
quest  for  psychical  phenomena,  we  must  omit  all 
these  messages  that  are  fraudulent,  or  that  show 
the  probability  of  having  been  obtained  through 
ordinary  or  deceitful  means. 

We  are  examining  messages  that  come  from 
the  mind.  That  most  of  the  messages  which  come 
from  a  mind  originate  in  the  mind  of  the  medium, 
is  my  next  proposition.  Then,  we  shall  be  free  to 
consider  those  messages  which  we  can  believe  with 
some  certainty  to  have  come  from  an  outside 
mind. 


X 


RESEARCH     FOR     PSYCHICAL     PHENOMENA!     THE 
MESSAGE    FROM    THE   SUBCONSCIOUS    MIND 

IT  will  be  well,  at  this  point,  to  say  a  few  words 
about  the  powers  of  the  mind.  Only  the  barest 
of  outlines  can  be  given  here,  but  even  a  brief 
summary,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  sufficient  to  afford 
an  idea  of  the  startling  mental  resources  which 
we  possess. 

We  have  only  one  mind,  but  this  mind  can 
work  either  consciously  or  unconsciously.  When 
we  are  dreaming,  during  slumber  or  under  the  in- 
fluence of  an  anesthetic,  we  are  said  to  be  in  an 
unconscious  state.  Nevertheless,  in  this  condi- 
tion of  dreaming  our  minds  are  at  work.  When, 
in  a  dream,  we  see  some  person,  we  have  a  sub- 
jective impression.  In  our  sleep  we  cannot  de- 
termine if  that  subjective  impression  has  a  cor- 
responding external  object  or  not.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  an  hallucination,  we  may,  for  example, 
see  the  same  person.  The  impression  is  so  vivid 
that  we  advance  to  touch  this  person — and  we  find 
that  the  person  was  only  a  creature  of  our  mind. 

lOI 


102  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

In  the  first  case  we  cannot  verify  our  impression ; 
in  the  second  case,  we  can. 

We  may  call  consciousness  the  state  of  mind 
in  which  we  are  able  to  compare  the  objective  evi- 
dence and  the  subjective  apprehension,  and  un- 
consciousness the  state  in  which  we  are  not  able 
to  make  this  comparison. 

This  definition  will  be  sufficient  for  our  needs. 
It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  many  un- 
conscious actions  and  functions  are  performed 
while  a  person  is  in  a  conscious  state.  When  we 
talk,  for  example,  we  may  move  the  hands  uncon- 
sciously. A  piano  player's  fingers  find  and  press 
the  various  keys  unconsciously.  Many  functions 
of  the  body,  such  as  the  functions  of  digestion,  of 
breathing,  and  so  on,  are  ordinarily  performed 
without  any  conscious  thought  or  direction.  Dur- 
ing deep  reflection  or  absorbing  conversation  we 
may  lose  all  consciousness  of  the  action  and  direc- 
tion of  our  feet  in  walking.  The  examples  of  this 
unconscious  action  in  a  conscious  state  are  many 
and  common. 

The  human  mind  is  one.  We  consider  it  con- 
scious when  it  directs  our  conscious  acts,  uncon- 
scious when  it  directs  our  unconscious  acts.  It  is 
not  that  we  admit  the  duality  of  the  human  mind. 
It  is  merely  that  we  take  two  different  points  of 
view  in  considering  its  operations. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  103 

The  terms  subconscious  and  unconscious  have, 
of  late,  come  to  possess  different  meanings.  In 
these  pages,  unless  expressly  remarked,  we  make 
no  distinction  between  them.  By  subconscious 
mind  is  to  be  understood  the  unconscious  mind, 
and  nothing  else. 

The  mind  is  like  an  iceberg ;  seven-eighths  of  it 
are  under  water,  one-eighth  alone  is  above  the  sur- 
face. The  part  of  the  ice  above  the  surface  re- 
sembles the  conscious  mind;  the  part  below,  the 
subconscious  mind. 

The  mind  is  like  a  cinematograph  taking  pic- 
tures constantly.  Some  of  the  images  are  vivid, 
some  faint,  and  some  so  slight  that  they  can  be 
seen  only  through  a  powerful  lens  after  the  film 
has  been  made  more  clear  by  some  special  chemi- 
cal process. 

Day  and  night  we  receive  innumerable  impres- 
sions through  the  senses.  These  impressions  are 
recorded.  According  to  the  impression  they  make 
we  may  recall  them.  If  they  are  vivid  they  may 
be  recalled  at  will;  if  faint,  only  after  a  mental 
process.  If  they  are  slight  they  are  beyond  the 
summons  of  the  will.  This  happens,  for  example, 
with  forgotten  impressions  which  we  know  exist 
and  which  we  cannot  recall.  Impressions  that 
cannot  be  recalled  at  will,  we  say,  are  in  the  keep- 
ing of  the  subconscious  mind.    Sometimes  the  will 


I04  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

in  its  search  for  an  impression  so  incites  the  sub- 
conscious mind  that  later,  when  the  will  is  intent 
on  a  matter  totally  different,  the  impression  un- 
successfully sought  leaps  into  the  field  of  con- 
sciousness. This  is  the  experience  of  everybody. 
Oftentimes,  in  endeavoring  to  recall  a  name,  or  to 
remember  the  location  of  an  article,  the  will  gets 
no  information.  Later,  while  talking  of  some- 
thing else  or  searching  for  some  other  object,  the 
name  or  location  is  suddenly  remembered. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  there  are,  in  the 
brain,  more  than  ten  billion  cells  ready  to  receive 
the  sense  impressions  of  our  whole  lives.  Of  these 
a  very  small  proportion  is  controlled  at  will.  The 
greater  control  a  person  has,  the  greater  we  say 
his  memory  is.  Some  people  have  a  memory  espe- 
cially sensitive  to  color  and  especially  tenacious  of 
color  impressions,  but  not  so  for  figures  or  faces. 
Others  have  especially  retentive  memories  for  mu- 
sical sounds  but  not  for  historical  facts.  And  so 
on. 

Ordinarily,  and  it  is  well  for  us,  the  subcon- 
scious mind  keeps  in  the  background  of  our  lives. 
Or  perhaps  I  should  say,  in  the  normal  man  the 
whole  mind  is  not  deeply  and  actively  conscious. 

The  subconscious  mind  sometimes  gains  con- 
trol of  our  nerve  centers  so  that  we  may  act  dur- 
ing our  sleep  as  if  we  were  conscious.    This  takes 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  105 

place  commonly  with  the  somnambulist.  At  times 
the  somnambulist  under  the  control  of  the  sub- 
conscious mind,  accomplishes  things  that  he  could 
not  accomplish  in  a  conscious  state, — as,  for  in- 
stance, the  writing  of  a  poem  or  the  solving  of  a 
mathematical  problem.  This  condition  may  be 
brought  on  by  the  use  of  anesthetics,  or  it  may 
become  more  or  less  habitual,  as  with  many  who 
go  into  trances. 

I  recall  a  story  which  a  friend  told  me,  of  a 
young  man  who,  about  to  go  under  an  operation, 
requested  him  to  be  present  in  the  room.  After 
the  young  man  had  "taken"  ether,  his  friend  no- 
ticed that  he  was  making  various  peculiar  re- 
marks, some  of  which  were  profane  and  startling, 
for  the  young  man  was  of  a  mild  and  retiring 
temper.  As  he  went  more  deeply  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  anesthetic  he  began  to  murmur  various 
verses  with  some  degree  of  consecutiveness.  His 
friend  took  them  down  in  shorthand,  and  review- 
ing them  afterwards  discovered  that  the  young 
man  had  composed  a  poem.  He  thought  this 
strange  since  he  was  quite  sure  that  the  young 
man  was  not  inclined  to  writing  verse.  With  the 
intention  of  finding  whether  or  not  his  friend  was 
secretly  favored  by  the  Muse  he  kept  his  notes 
and  said  nothing.  Not  long  after,  the  young  man, 
fully  recovered  from  his  operation,  was  amusing 


io6  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

himself  and  a  group  of  friends  with  the  ouija 
board.  The  first  messages  of  the  board  were  very 
profane  and  succeeded  in  horrifying  the  company 
not  a  Httle.  Then  the  indicator  became  rapturous 
in  its  communing,  and  its  full  communication 
turned  out  to  be  a  little  poem.  Astonishment 
gripped  the  curious  audience.  The  indicator  then 
moved  over  the  board  and  spelled  the  name — Rob- 
ert Burns.  A  hush  fell  over  the  spectators.  For 
a  second  every  one  imagined  that  he  felt  the  in- 
fluence of  the  heather-roaming  rhapsodist.  Then, 
the  young  man's  friend  who  had  been  with  him  in 
the  operating  room  produced  his  note-book.  The 
profanity  and  poem  were  the  same  as  those  which 
had  been  stirred  from  the  subconscious  by  the 
anesthetic.  And  the  prestige  of  ouija  was  shat- 
tered in  that  crowd. 

I  tell  this  story  at  length  not  for  any  special  les- 
son attached  to  it,  but  because  it  shows  what  un- 
usual and  oftentimes  startling  phenomena  may  be 
traced  to  the  incited  subconscious  mind.  A  dis- 
turbed or  abnormal  mind  may  produce  extraordi- 
nary effects.  The  explanation  may  not  always  be 
at  hand,  as  in  the  example  above.  But  too  much 
care  cannot  be  taken  to  avoid  confusing  the  prod- 
ucts of  this  subconscious  mind  (which  is  an  un- 
fathomable ocean  of  many  and  varied  ideas)  with 
the  products  of  a  third  mind.     I  have  no  space 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  107 

here  for  a  scientific  discussion  of  the  subconscious 
mind.  Psychology  gives  the  natural  explanation 
of  some  remarkable  phenomena  that  are  widely 
offered  as  evidence  of  the  interference  of  spirits 
with  the  daily  life  of  the  world.  It  is  only  when 
a  communication  is  clearly  beyond  the  powers 
and  tremendous  resources  of  the  subconscious 
mind  of  the  medium,  that  serious  credence  should 
be  placed  in  the  influence  of  an  outside  mind.  It 
should  never  be  forgotten  that,  as  with  the  ice- 
berg, only  one-eighth  of  the  mind  normally  is  in 
the  light  of  consciousness.  Underneath  the  surface 
floats  the  seven-eighths  that  is  unconscious,  the 
great  bulk  of  the  mind,  which  only  a  catastrophe 
or  an  unusual  accident  or  some  abnormal  condi- 
tion can  bring  into  view.. 


XI 

PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

ARE  there  real  psychical  phenomena  ? 
In  the  presence  of  all  the  material  accumu- 
lated through  the  centuries  it  seems  that  the  an- 
swer must  be — yes.  We  are  like  the  builder  who 
stands  before  a  heap  of  ruins  endeavoring  to  dis- 
cover whether  or  not  there  is  material  there  good 
enough  for  the  erection  of  a  new  edifice.  In  all 
that  rubbish  there  must  be  something  of  use,  he 
argues.  But  he  can  be  sure  only  after  he  has  ex- 
amined it. 

Here,  it  is  well  to  recall  the  method  we  have 
used  in  examining  the  debris  heaped  about  Spir- 
itism. First  of  all  we  eliminated  all  the  phe- 
nomena whose  physical  part  could  be  traced  to 
fraud  or  trickery.  Then,  from  the  phenomena 
that  remained,  we  endeavored  to  strike  out  all 
those  occurrences  the  physical  force  for  which, 
though  abnormal,  was  nevertheless  natural.  With 
the  remaining  body  of  phenomena  we  turned  our 
consideration  to  the  intellectual  factor  and  pro- 
ceeded to  omit  all  evidence  that  bore  marks  of 

io8 


YARDS   OF   "ECH)PLAS>r"   JUST   ".MATERIALIZED"   FROM   A   FALSE   FINGER 

AND  THE  CROSS  BAR  OF  A  COMB. 

(see  appendix   III) 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  109 

deceit.  And  finally,  we  struck  out  all  evidence 
that  could  possibly  be  traced  to  the  mind  of  the 
medium  herself. 

It  seems  that,  even  after  this  rigid  weeding 
process,  there  are  some  phenomena  left  which 
are  really  psychical — genuine  sensible  effects 
which,  although  brought  about  by  a  medium  act- 
ing as  an  instrument,  are  primarily  produced  by 
an  invisible  mind  using  forces  which  are,  as  a  rule, 
unknown.  It  is  true  that  no  definite  conclusion 
may  be  reached  until  each  particular  case  is  care- 
fully examined  and  authenticated.  But  consider- 
ing the  mass  of  evidence  as  a  whole,  one  may  say 
with  some  safety  that  real  psychical  phenomena 
do  exist. 

Then,  what  is  the  cause  of  these  psychical  phe- 
nomena ? 

For  the  sake  of  clarity  let  us  describe  and  ex- 
amine two  cases  of  real  psychical  phenomena. 
Not  that  I  claim  that  such  cases  have  actually  oc- 
curred, but  similar  cases  have  been  reported.  Just 
now  it  is  our  purpose  to  concede  the  possibility  of 
the  reality  of  these  hypothetical  cases  in  order 
that  our  treatment  of  them  may  not  be  hampered 
by  any  denials  of  fact.  However,  it  must  not 
be  imagined  that  one  cannot  deny  the  veracity  of 
much  of  the  evidence  that  is  adduced  from  reports 
of  phenomena  that  resemble  these.     Indeed,  it 


no  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

would  be  unscientific  to  admit  any  of  the  evidence 
that  is  so  fluently  and  abundantly  offered  us  from 
platform  and  printed  page,  unless  the  phenomena 
on  which  such  evidence  is  based  have  been  hon- 
estly and  carefully  investigated  and  authenticated. 

1.  A  medium  through  raps  or  by  table-tilting 
conveys  the  following  message  to  a  sitter : 

"I  am  your  aunt.  When  you  were  eight  years 
old  you  sprained  your  ankle  in  a  fall  from  a 
tree  in  the  corner  of  the  orchard.  You  had 
climbed  the  tree  in  search  of  a  bird's  nest.  I 
alone  knew  of  the  incident,  for  you  told  no  one 
else,  not  even  your  mother." 

The  sitter  remembers  the  incident.  He  had  told 
his  aunt  and  no  one  else.  This  is  a  hypothetical 
case,  of  course,  but  we  will  consider  it  as  having 
happened  and  as  true  in  detail. 

2.  A  medium  in  a  trance  writes  automatically 

this  communication: 

"I  see  a  man  of  about  sixty  years,  rather 
stout,  bearded  and  wearing  steel-rimmed  spec- 
tacles. He  has  just  now  been  killed  in  an  au- 
tomobile accident  in  Melbourne,  Australia.  His 
name,  he  says,  is  Thomas  J.  Queen,  and  he  was 
formerly  in  Los  Angeles.  He  wants  you  to 
communicate  with  his  son,  John,  who  is  now 
in  San  Francisco." 

The  sitter  investigates  the  case.  He  finds  that 
there  is  a  John  Queen  in  San  Francisco,  that  his 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  in 

father,  Thomas  J.  Queen,  formerly  of  Los  Ange- 
les, was  in  Melbourne,  Australia,  and  that  he  was 
killed  on  the  very  day  that  the  medium  gave  him 
the  message. 

Now,  if  these  cases  are  true,  as  we  suppose, 
what  mind  was  it  that,  using  the  medium  as  an 
intermediary,  furnished  the  information  given  in 
the  messages? 

Three  different  theories  have  been  advanced  to 
answer  this  question:  The  "Diabolic  Theory," 
the  "Spiritistic  Theory,"  and  the  "Natural  or 
Telepathic  Theory."  These  three  theories  I  will 
discuss  briefly  in  the  following  chapters.  I  do 
not  admit  or  reject  any  of  the  three.  I  propose 
merely  to  present  the  reasons  for  and  against  each 
theory  and  leave  the  decision  to  the  judgment  of 
the  reader. 

Note:  We  must  remark  that  in  these  two 
typical  cases  we  have  purposely  avoided  any- 
thing that  may  appear  as  "real  knowledge  of 
the  future"  or  reading  the  heart  or  inner 
thoughts  of  men.  In  either  case,  according  to 
the  teaching  of  theologians  and  the  sense  of  the 
Church,  only  God  is  able  to  do  this,  and  so 
neither  telepathy,  the  discarnate  souls,  nor  the 
devil,  can  know  the  future  or  read  the  hearts 
of  men. 


XII 


THE   DIABOLIC   THEORY 


WHEN  the  question  is  asked,  what  is  the 
physical   cause   of   psychical   phenomena, 
many  immediately  answer — the  devil. 

Applying  this  theory  to  the  two  cases  we  are 
considering  we  would  mean  that  the  devil,  using 
his  preternatural  powers,  produces  the  raps,  tips 
the  tables,  or  moves  the  hand  of  the  medium  to 
write,  so  that  by  his  power  and  direction  the  me- 
dium supplies  the  information  that  is  furnished 
primarily  by  him.  This  information  is  startling 
because  of  the  preternatural  powers  of  the  devil's 
mind.  According  to  this  theory  the  devil's  mind 
is  the  other  mind.  The  medium  is  only  the  instru- 
mental cause.  The  force  that  physically  produces 
the  phenomena,  as  well  as  the  mind  that  directs 
the  force,  are  both  from  the  devil,  who  in  these 
instances  exercises  his  preternatural  powers.  In 
other  words,  every  medmm  is  possessed.  The  ad- 
vocates of  the  theory  do  not  state  this  explicitly; 
but  to  declare  that  the  devil  is  the  physical  cause 
of  the  phenomena  is  equivalent  to  declaring  that 
the  medium  is  possessed. 

113 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   113 

Although  the  distinction  is  not  necessary,  many 
theologians  divide  this  intimate  physical  inter- 
ference of  the  devil  with  man  into  possession  and 
obsession.  When  the  devil  acts  upon  the  body 
from  zvithin,  that  body  is  said  to  be  possessed; 
when  the  devil  acts  upon  the  body  from  without, 
it  is  considered  obsessed.  According  to  Father 
R.  P.  Poulain,  SJ.,  in  his  splendid  work,  "The 
Graces  of  Interior  Prayer"  (p.  428),  a  person 
is  possessed  by  the  devil 

"when  at  particular  moments  the  devil  makes 
him  lose  consciousness  and  seems  to  take  the 
place  of  the  soul  in  his  body;  making  use,  ap- 
parently at  least,  of  his  eyes  in  order  to  see,  of 
his  ears  to  hear,  or  his  mouth  to  speak,  whether 
to  those  who  are  looking  on  or  to  his  own  com- 
panions. It  is  the  Devil  who  suffers,  as  though 
from  a  burn,  if  any  object  that  has  been  blessed 
is  brought  into  contact  with  the  skin.  In  a 
word,  the  Devil  seems  to  be  incarnate  in  the 
man. 

"We  shall  say  that  a  person  is  obsessed  when 
the  Devil  does  not  make  him  lose  consciousness, 
but  when,  notwithstanding  he  torments  him  in 
such  a  way  that  his  action  is  recognizable,  in- 
flicting blows,  for  instance." 

The  Ritual  warns  the  exorcist  not  to  be  very 
ready  to  think  that  anyone  is  obsessed,  and  not 
to  confuse  the  diabolic  attack  with  certain  mala- 


114  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

dies.  "St.  Philip  Neri,"  says  Father  Poulain  (ib., 
p.  432),  "who  had  great  power  over  demons,  was 
extremely  slow  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  a  pos- 
session." 

I  have  said  enough  about  methods  that  medi- 
ums employ  when  working  legitimately  and,  as  in 
our  two  hypothetical  cases,  giving  real  psychical 
phenomena,  to  enable  the  reader  to  judge  whether 
or  not  mediums  show  any  signs  we  would  expect 
in  a  diabolical  possession.  The  ordinary  phenom- 
ena of  the  trance,  of  automatic  writing,  of  table- 
tipping,  etc.,  are  undoubtedly  well  enough  known 
to  allow  the  reader  to  make  a  comparison.  But, 
lest  he  should  not  be  familiar  with  the  phenomena 
of  possession,  I  will  give  a  typical  case  at  length. 
This  particular  incident  is  told  by  Mgr.  Delalle, 
vicar-apostolic  of  Natal,  and  is  quoted  from  "The 
Question  of  Miracles,"  by  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Joyce, 
S.J.  (p.  125  et  seq.). 

"Two  months  ago  I  promised  the  editor  of 
"Rome"  a  relation  of  certain  facts  which  hap- 
pened in  my  vicariate  last  year  (May,  1907), 
concerning  two  native  girls  (Germana  and 
Monica),  whom  I  believe  to  have  been  possessed 
by  the  devil.  I  shall  simply  relate  the  facts 
without  a  word  of  comment,  and  shall  content 
myself  with  vouching  for  their  absolute  truth. 
If  anyone  thinks  differently  from  me  on  the 
subject,  he  is  quite  free  to  do  so!    I  mean,  pro- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   115 

vided  he  admits  the  facts,  he  may  draw  his  own 
conclusion. 

"There  is  in  the  Vicariate  of  Natal  a  mission 
now  in  charge  of  the  Trappist  Fathers,  where 
a  great  deal  of  good  is  done,  although  it  was  a 
long  time  before  any  results  could  be  seen.  This 
mission  is  dedicated  to  St.  Michael,  and  is  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  nearest  village,  the  ma- 
gistracy of  Umginto. 

"For  several  months  I  was  constantly  receiv- 
ing letters  from  the  priest  in  charge  of  St.  Mi- 
chael's, in  which  he  declared  that  two  girls  of 
the  mission  native  school  were  possessed  by  the 
devil,  and  asked  for  permission  to  practice  sol- 
emn exorcisms.  After  some  time  I  allowed  him 
to  do  so,  and  things  were  quieter  for  a  little 
while,  but  soon  the  distressing  phenomena  ap- 
peared worse  than  before.  I  was  very  much 
annoyed  and  hardly  believed  it  was  a  case  of 
possession  but  rather  put  it  down  to  hysterics. 
Unable  to  go  at  the  time,  I  gave  permission  to 
the  Abbot  of  Marienhill  either  to  go  himself 
or  to  delegate  a  priest  who  would  inquire  into 
the  facts  and  if  necessary  exorcise  the  girls. 
But  a  few  days  after,  I  found  I  could  go  my- 
self and  wrote  to  St.  Michael's  telling  the  priest 
to  expect  me. 

"J  was  very  uncertain  yet  and  called  the 
priests  (three  Trappists)  and  also  the  Sisters, 
and  asked  them  some  particulars  about  the  ways 
of  these  girls.  Here  are  some  of  the  things 
they  told  me: — 


Ii6  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

"They  carry  enormous  weights,  which  two 
men  could  hardly  lift  (the  girls  are  about  six- 
teen years  old) ;  they  understand  Latin  when  in 
their  fits,  and  even  speak  it  sometimes ;  they  re- 
veal the  secret  sins  of  the  school  children,  etc. ; 
sometimes  they  are  lifted  oflf  the  ground  in  spite 
of  the  Sisters  holding  them;  a  few  days  before, 
whilst  the  Sisters  were  holding  Germana,  she 
shouted  'I  am  on  fire.'  The  Sisters  withdrew 
and  saw  the  girl's  dress  ablaze.  Another  time 
her  bed  began  to  burn  also,  though  there  was  no 
fire  near  by,  and  so  on. 

"It  was  getting  very  serious,  and  the  poor 
Sisters,  weary  of  this  terrible  life,  begged  me 
to  help  them.  After  all  this  I  thought  it  was  my 
duty  to  begin  the  solemn  exorcisms.  I  ordered, 
therefore,  the  four  priests  and  three  Sisters  to 
be  ready  to  begin  at  2  p.  m.  in  the  Sisters' 
Choir,  and  excluded  every  one  else  from  the 
Church.  Just  before  the  time  I  had  the  Holy 
Water  font  emptied  and  filled  with  plain  water, 
whilst  I  took  a  small  bottle  of  Holy  Water  in  my 
pocket.  Then  I  put  on  the  rochet  and  mozetta 
and  waited  for  Germana. 

"The  sisters  brought  her  into  the  chapel  and 
I  sprinkled  her  at  once  with  water  from  the 
font.  At  first  she  looked  up  with  a  slight  shud- 
der, but  as  I  continued  she  laughed  mockingly 
and  cried :  'You  may  go  on ;  this  is  not  Holy 
Water!'  Then  I  took  the  bottle  out  of  my 
pocket  and  sprinkled  her  anew,  but  this  time  she 
shrieked  and  cried,  and  asked  me  to  stop. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  117 

"Now  I  must  remark  that  all  the  time  while 
the  ordeal  lasted  I  spoke  Latin  only,  the  girl 
obeying  all  my  orders  and  answering  me,  usu- 
ally in  Zulu  but  sometimes  in  Latin. 

''After  some  prayers  I  asked  her:  'Die  mihi 
nomen  tuum.'  I  insisted  and  she  said :  'I  know 
your  name,  it  is  Henry ;  but  where  did  you  see 
that  spirits  have  names?'  'They  have,  and  I 
command  you  to  tell  me  yours.'  'Never,  never.' 
But  on  my  placing  on  her  head  a  relic  of  the 
true  cross,  which  she  could  not  see,  'Take  that 
away,'  she  cried,  'it  crushes  me.'  'What  is  it?' 
'A  relic'  'Then  now  tell  me  your  name.'  'I 
cannot;  but  I  will  spell  it:  D-i-o-a-r.'  'Now, 
who  is  your  master?'  'I  have  none.'  'But  you 
have  one,  and  must  tell  me  his  name.'  'I  can- 
not, but  I  shall  write  it.'  And  she  wrote  with 
her  finger :    'Lucifer.' 

"  'Now,'  I  said,  'tell  me  why  you  were  cast 
out  from  Heaven.'  'Because  God  showed  us 
His  Son  made  man,  and  commanded  us  to  adore 
Him ;  but  we  would  not,  because  He  had  taken 
to  Himself  an  inferior  nature !' 

"Whilst  I  was  going  on  with  the  prayers  of 
the  ritual,  she  (should  I  not  say  hef  however, 
you  understand)  interrupted  me  constantly,  ob- 
jecting to  all  the  invocations.  When  I  read  ex- 
tracts from  the  Gospels,  she  suddenly  ex- 
claimed: 'I  know  Matthew,  I  do  not  know 
Mark.'  'This  is  an  untruth,  and  to  make  up  for 
it  kneel  down  at  once.'  This  she  did.  Whilst 
we    recited   the    Magnificat,    she    interrupted 


ii8  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

again:  'Stop  it,  I  know  it  better  than  you;  I 
knew  it  long  before  you  were  born.' 

"As  one  of  the  Fathers  commanded  her  to  be 
quiet,  she  turned  on  him :  'You  fool !  Who 
gave  you  authority  over  me?  Did  the  Bishop 
or  Abbott  delegate  you  ?' 

"At  times  she  remained  quiet  and  disdainful, 
but  sometimes  she  raged  and  gnashed  her  teeth. 
*ril  make  you  sweat  before  I  get  out,'  she  said 
once:  then  all  of  a  sudden,  she  asked  to  be  al- 
lowed to  go  into  another  girl,  Anastasia.  'Stop 
your  prayers,'  she  said  also,  'they  hurt  me.  If 
you  stop,  I  shall  go  out  tomorrow  morning.' 

"Time  went  on,  and  as  I  was  tired,  I  com- 
missioned one  of  the  priests  to  read  the  prayers 
for  me.  He  did  so,  but  with  a  droning  voice. 
As  he  stopped  at  the  end  of  a  paragraph,  she 
turned  fiercely  upon  him :  'Exi  immunde  spir- 
itus,'  she  said. 

"From  time  to  time  she  went  into  awful  fits 
of  roaring.  On  such  occasions,  I  had  only  to 
place  two  fingers  lightly  on  her  throat,  and  she 
could  not  utter  a  sound.  To  make  a  counter- 
experiment,  I  asked  one  of  the  Sisters  to  do 
the  same  as  I  did,  but  it  had  no  efifect.  'Tell 
me,'  I  said,  'why  you  are  so  much  afraid  of  the 
priest's  fingers  ?'  'Because  they  are  consecrat- 
ed,' she  answered,  and  she  made  the  motion  of 
the  bishop  anointing  the  priest's  hands  at  his 
ordination.  We  went  on  thus  from  2  p.  m.  till 
9  p.  m.,  when  I  decided  to  stop  till  the  follow- 
ing morning. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   119 

"Afterwards,  Germana  was  somewhat 
quieter,  and  she  came  begging  me  not  to  give 
her  up.  'I  am  sure,'  she  said,  'that  if  you  said 
your  Mass  for  me  tomorrow  it  would  be  easier.' 
'Yes,'  I  answered,  'I  shall,  but  on  condition  that 
you  will  go  to  confession  and  communion  to- 
morrow morning.' 

'The  night  was  awful,  and  the  poor  Sisters 
had  to  remain  with  her  all  through.  She  went 
to  confession  and  communion  in  the  morning, 
and  remained  quiet  until  at  8 130  a.  m.  we  began 
the  exorcisms  again.  From  the  very  first 
words,  she  became  unmanageable,  and  we  had 
to  tie  her  hands  and  feet,  since  eight  of  us  to- 
gether could  not  control  her. 

"  'You  have  sent  away  Anastasia,'  she  cried; 
'I  can  see  her  with  another  girl  on  their  way 
to  another  mission,  but  I'll  find  her  again.'  It 
was  true.  Early  in  the  morning  I  had  sent  her 
away,  but  Germana  could  not  possibly  have 
known  it.  After  a  whole  hour,  someone  called 
a  priest  away;  he  came  back  half  an  hour  later. 
'Where  has  he  been?'  I  asked.  'He  went  to 
baptize  a  man  who  got  sick  suddenly.'  That 
was  also  true,  but  nobody  in  the  chapel  knew  of 
it.  Then  she  asked  for  a  drink,  and  one  of  us 
fetched  her  a  cup  of  water.  After  drinking 
some  of  it,  she  stopped :  'Wretched  man,'  she 
said,  'you  gave  me  Holy  Water !'  Still,  I  made 
her  drink  the  whole  of  it,  and  she  became  quite 
defiant.  'All  right,  give  me  more  still ;  it  will 
not  make  me  suffer  more  than  I  do.' 


I20  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

"It  would  be  too  long  to  repeat  everything 
she  said.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  every  moment  it 
became  more  and  more  awful,  until  at  last  she 
tried  to  bite  a  priest.  He,  somewhat  excited, 
gave  her  a  little  tap  on  the  mouth,  at  which  she 
became  worse  and  called  him  the  most  stupid  of 
men,  who  wanted  to  strike  a  spirit. 

"As  I  commanded  her  to  keep  quiet,  she  cried 
'Now,  no  more  obedience.'  It  was  the  end  evi- 
dently, but  the  struggle  was  terrible.  At  last 
she  fell  to  the  floor,  and  moaned  with  awful 
pains.  Her  face  swelled  up  suddenly,  so  that 
she  could  not  even  open  her  eyes,  and  the  tears 
came  down  her  cheeks.  But  the  sigh  of  the 
cross  brought  the  face  instantly  back  to  the 
natural  size.  Then  a  kind  of  convulsion  and 
she  remained  motionless  as  if  dead.  After 
about  ten  minutes,  she  opened  her  eyes,  and 
knelt  down  to  thank  God.    'Dioar'  had  gone. 

"This  is  the  summary  of  what  happened  to 
Germana.  If  anyone  can  explain  the  signs,  the 
symptoms,  the  words  and  the  cure  otherwise 
than  by  possession,  he  will  be  more  clever  than 
I  am.  I  shall  perhaps  relate  some  other  time 
the  case  of  Monica,  and  in  the  meantime  I  give 
the  editor  of  "Rome"  leave  to  do  with  this  what 
he  likes.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  letter  sent 
me  by  Germana  afterwards,  in  which  she  begs 
that  I  will  pray  for  her  death.  She  has  seen  too 
much  and  is  afraid  of  life." 

Here  we  have  a  good  example  of  possession. 
One  does  not  have  to  be  a  scientific  observer  to 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  121 

discover  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  between 
the  condition  of  the  medium  and  the  condition  of 
the  victim  attacked  by  the  Devil.  A  medium  has 
visions,  most  often  fair  and  pleasing ;  she  willingly 
goes  into  a  trance,  and  is  thrilled  with  her  accom- 
plishment; sometimes  she  reaches  a  state  of  ec- 
stasy. It  is  true  that  a  medium's  efforts  may  re- 
sult in  fatigue  or  nervous  exhaustion.  But  the 
consequences  are  seldom  very  serious.  There  is 
seldom  any  sign  of  acute  suffering,  seldom  any 
mark  of  torture,  any  fierce  contortions  and  writh- 
ings,  such  as  accompany  the  usual  cases  of  pos- 
session. There  may  be  some  slight  facial  changes, 
some  low  moaning,  but  seldom  more.  I  do  not 
say  that  the  devil  may  not  have  resorted  to  a  new 
manner  of  physical  interference  with  a  human  be- 
ing. But  I  do  say  that  such  possession  is  not  of 
the  kind  which  the  Church  describes  in  the  Ritual 
and  of  which  we  have  many  examples  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church. 

That  the  devil,  using  his  preternatural  powers, 
has  acted  on  the  body  of  man  is  true.  That  the 
devil  still  can  do  so,  is  also  true.  It  is  clear,  ac- 
cordingly, that  the  diabolical  theory  has  a  good 
foundation  in  fact.  Its  advocates  argue  that  pos- 
session, as  we  have  known  it,  is  inflicted  on  the 
victim  without  his  will,  and  hence  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  devil  consents  to  act  with  those 


122  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

who  directly  or  indirectly  call  upon  him.  Fur- 
thermore, since  there  is  no  adequate  natural  the- 
ory to  explain  the  phenomena,  as  they  allege,  the 
causes  of  these  phenomena  must  be  attributed  to 
some  preternatural  power;  but,  as  the  effect  is 
bad,  it  cannot  be  that  the  angels  are  the  agents. 
Therefore  it  must  be  the  devil.  And  this  conclu- 
sion is  borne  out  by  the  testimony  of  the  "spirits" 
themselves,  who  sometimes  assert  that  they  are 
Satan  or  his  minions. 

I  state  the  main  argument  or  arguments  in  fa- 
vor of  this  theory.  I  must,  however,  remark  that 
some  of  the  reasoning  is  a  little  specious.  For,  to 
begin  with,  there  is  no  reason  why,  if  some  phys- 
ical phenomena  at  present  appear  inexplicable, 
that  we  therefore  should  seek  for  preternatural 
causes.  Because  we  cannot  explain  the  phenom- 
ena of  wireless  telegraphy  is  no  argument  that  we 
should  go  in  quest  of  preternatural  powers  for 
that  explanation.  Indeed,  today  no  one  does. 
But  it  was  not  so  long  ago  that  many  when  told 
that  messages  could  be  sent  for  miles  without  any 
sensible  means  of  communication  immediately  de- 
clared that  such  was  impossible,  or  if  possible, 
was  the  work  of  the  devil.  History  has  shown 
that  when  any  phenomena  occur,  novel  to  our  ex- 
perience but  still  in  the  range  of  physical  powers, 
it  is  better  to  await  a  natural  explanation  than  to 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  123 

jump  to  a  preternatural  one.  The  multiplication 
of  loaves  is  outside  of  nature's  power;  substan- 
tially it  is  contrary  to  nature's  laws.  The  lifting 
of  a  table,  however,  is  common  to  human  experi- 
ence. When  the  table  is  lifted  by  an  invisible 
agency  the  phenomenon  itself  is  substantially  the 
same;  the  difference  lies  only  in  the  manner  or 
method  of  lifting  it. 

While  Satan  may  or  may  not  be  the  physical 
cause  of  psychical  phenomena,  he  may  be  said  to 
be  the  moral  cause  of  the  evil  effect.  He  may  not 
always  be,  it  is  true,  for  man  in  his  fallen  state 
can  accomplish  ill  by  himself,  without  voluntarily 
allying  himself  with  the  devil.  Voltaire's  works 
may  be  in  great  measure  diabolical,  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  his  works  were  written  by  the  devil. 

If  the  advocates  of  the  diabolical  theory  would, 
in  explaining  physical  cause  or  moral  cause  of 
spiritistic  phenomena,  confine  themselves  to  a  par- 
ticular case,  much  more  progress  could  be  made  in 
a  discussion  of  the  theory.  They  do  not  offer 
concrete,  well-authenticated  cases,  nor  do  they 
point  out  clearly  the  details  of  such  cases  as  lead 
them  to  attribute  the  cause  to  the  devil.  They 
usually  argue  in  generalizations,  speaking  of  "so 
many  cases  recorded  by  authorities  like  Sir  Conan 
Doyle,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Sir  William  Crookes, 
and  many  others,"  all  of  whose  names  seem  some- 


124  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

how  or  other  to  have  made  a  very  deep  impression 
on  them.  These  advocates  are  ready  to  discover  a 
case  of  possession  in  almost  every  medium.  Far 
different  is  the  attitude  of  Professor  Flournoy, 
a  beHever  in  spiritualism,  not  spiritism  ("Spirit- 
ism and  Psychology,"  191 1,  Chap.  VIII),  who 
could  find  nothing  in  favor  of  any  preternatural 
explanation  in  the  demonstrations  of  one  of  the 
most  amazing  mediums  the  modern  world  has 
seen.  (''From  India  to  the  Planet  Mars.")  If 
the  advocates  of  the  diabolical  theory  would  fol- 
low the  example  of  the  Church  in  the  examina- 
tion of  miracles,  and  show  us  in  this  or  that  case 
sufficient  proofs  in  favor  of  the  preternatural, 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  at  all  in  admitting  a 
diabolical  explanation.  It  is  an  altogether  differ- 
ent process  to  offer  sundry  unfounded  generaliza- 
tions to  support  a  greater  generalization, — that 
is,  to  declare  that  Spiritism  as  spiritists  consider 
it,  is  directly  the  work  of  the  devil.  The  Church 
does  not  declare  every  extraordinary  event  a  mir- 
acle ;  nor  is  it  common  sense  to  declare  every  ex- 
traordinary psychical  phenomenon  the  work  of 
a  preternatural  agent. 

The  argument  that  offers  the  testimony  of  the 
"spirits"  who  declare  that  they  are  Satan  or  his 
servants  is  a  two-bladed  one,  for  if  such  testimony 
is  to  be  considered,  one  must  also  put  credence  in 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  125 

the  testimony  of  the  other  ''spirits"  who  insist 
that  they  are  the  souls  of  the  dead. 

I  may  sum  up  this  chapter  in  a  very  few  words : 
the  diabolical  explanation  for  this  or  that  par- 
ticular well-authenticated  case  may  be  more  than 
probable ;  but  as  a  general  explanation  of  all  real 
psychical  phenomena  it  is  but  a  theory,  and  a  the- 
ory which  thus  far  has  not  been  very  well  estab- 
lished. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    NATURAL    THEORY 

THE  greater  number  of  the  theories  evolved 
to  give  a  natural  explanation  of  psychical 
phenomena  demand  little  consideration  here,  be- 
cause they  are  mainly  concerned  with  the  force 
and  not  with  the  mind  behind  the  message  or  con- 
trolling the  force.  As  it  is  only  by  discovering  the 
real  source  of  these  messages,  only  by  locating  the 
other  mind  behind  the  force,  that  anything  definite 
can  be  obtained  for  or  against  the  existence  and 
significance  of  psychical  phenomena,  the  theories 
which  deal  mainly  with  the  force  are  of  little  value. 
Indeed,  the  only  theory  deserving  much  investiga- 
tion in  a  cursory  examination  such  as  this,  is  the 
telepathic  theory,  the  theory  that  supposes  that  the 
human  mind  has  the  power  here  on  earth  of  com- 
municating with  and  to  some  extent  controlling 
other  human  minds.  Telepathic  phenomena  exist, 
as  is  well  known. 

I,  for  one,  think  that  the  real  solution  of  psychi- 
cal phenomena  will  be  found  in  the  study  of  te- 
lepathy, possibly  within  a  few  years,  since  more 

126 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  127 

attention  is  being  paid  to  this  unusual  activity  of 
the  mind.  However,  in  passing,  I  will  mention  a 
few  of  the  natural  theories  offered  to  explain  the 
strange  phenomena  gathered  under  the  name  of 
"psychic"  during  the  last  few  decades.  Some  of 
these  theories  are  out  of  vogue,  and  others  are 
swiftly  heading  to  the  oblivion  which  they  de- 
serve. 

Sir  William  Crookes  is  the  supposed  author  of 
the  theory  of  psychic  forces  which  held  that 
the  medium  was  capable  of  certain  vital  emana- 
tions which  were  productive  of  various  phenom- 
ena. The  theory  is  occupied  mostly  with  an  ex- 
planation of  the  force  and  neglects  the  mind  be- 
hind it.  Besides,  it  is  simply  an  exposition  of 
certain  faculties  which  it  is  well  known  some  me- 
diums possess.  An  amplification  of  this  theory, 
the  theory  of  psychical  radiations,  was  proposed 
by  Mr.  L.  Denis  at  the  International  Con- 
gress of  Psychology  at  Paris  in  1900.  It  holds 
that  radiations  from  the  medium,  similar  to  Hert- 
zian waves,  are  what  cause  levitation  and  similar 
phenomena.  The  theory  of  Dr.  Crawford,  be- 
fore mentioned,  is  particularly  interesting,  declar- 
ing, as  it  does,  that  out  of  the  medium  projects  a 
"rod"  of  a  peculiar  nature.  This  rod  is  composed 
of  a  series  of  tubes  which  are  filled  with  some  sort 
of  ethereal  matter,  which  makes  the  rod  rigid  and 


128  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

thus  enables  the  medium  to  levitate  a  table,  pro- 
duce raps,  etc.  These  theories  likewise  are  con- 
cerned only  with  the  force.  The  theory  of  Gorres 
that  the  medium's  thoughts  can  work  at  a  distance 
as  does  the  wireless  transmitter,  is  a  variation  of 
the  telepathic  theory. 

The  most  popular  theory,  and  one  that  has  occa- 
sioned much  humor  even  in  its  serious  presenta- 
tion, is  that  of  the  "astral  body."  The  astral  body 
is  a  sort  of  third  body,  ethereal,  and  existing  be- 
tween the  physical  body  and  the  soul.  It  is  said 
to  possess  the  form  of  the  material  body  and 
unites  it  to  the  soul.  The  explanation  of  Grasset 
may  be  taken  as  characteristic.  *Tn  the  same 
manner  ("L'Occultisme  d'Hier,"  Chap.  VIII) 
that  the  carbonate  of  soda  unites  two  things  so 
different  as  oil  and  water  to  produce  soap  that  is 
a  homogeneous  substance,  so  the  astral  body 
unites  the  spiritual  oil  with  the  material  water 
making  a  vital  soap."  This  astral  body,  they 
claim,  may  radiate  out  of  the  material  body  and 
produce  the  luminous  or  dynamic  effects  common- 
ly observed  in  psychical  phenomena.  At  death  we 
keep  this  astral  body.  Animals  likewise  possess 
an  astral  body,  and  accordingly,  Mr.  Encause,  also 
known  as  Papus,  in  ''Echo  du  Merveilleux" 
(Denis),  p.  400,  declares  that  "the  mould  of  a 
dog's  body  after  the  sufferings  of  a  terrestrial 


THE   GHUSTLY    HAND    WHICH    APPEARED   UN    THE    NEW     VOkK 

photographer's  CAREFULLY  GUARDED  PLATE. 

(SEE  APPENDIX    IV ) 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  129 

incarnation  is  transformed  into  the  mould  or 
astral  body  of  a  future  monkey  .  .  /'  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  tells  us  in  his  famous  book,  "Raymond," 
how  the  astral  body  suffers  as  does  our  body,  and 
when  the  material  body  is  blown  to  pieces  or  burnt, 
the  astral  body  is  also  in  pain. 

"He  says  my  body's  very  similar  to  the  one  I 
had  before.  I  pinch  myself  sometimes  to  see  if 
it's  real,  and  it  is,  but  it  doesn't  seem  to  hurt 
as  much  as  when  I  pinched  the  flesh  body"  (p. 
194). 

"Yes,  yes,  and  eyelashes,  and  eyebrows,  ex- 
actly the  same,  and  a  tongue  and  teeth.  He  has 
got  a  new  tooth  now  in  place  of  another  one 
he  had — one  that  wasn't  quite  right  then.  He 
has  got  it  right  and  a  good  tooth  has  come  in 
the  place  of  the  one  that  had  gone." 

".  .  .  when  anybody's  blown  to  pieces,  it 
takes  some  time  for  the  spirit-body  to  complete 
itself,  to  gather  itself  all  in,  and  to  be  com- 
plete .  .  ." 

"Oh,  if  they  get  burnt  by  accident,  if  they 
know  about  it  on  this  side,  they  detach  the 
spirit  first.  What  we  call  a  spirit-doctor  comes 
around  and  helps"  (p.  195). 

And  so  on.  We  shall  have  more  of  this  when  we 
come  to  a  discussion  of  the  Spiritistic  theory. 

The  only  natural  theory  that  deserves  serious 
consideration  is,  as  I  have  said,  the  telepathic.  It 
begins  with  the  fact  that  one  man's  mind  can  com- 


130  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

municate  with  the  mind  of  another.  The  power 
is  similar  to  that  displayed  in  hypnotic  demonstra- 
tions. It  is  true  that  the  telepathic  theory  is  not 
concerned  with  the  physical  side  of  psychical  phe- 
nomena. It  does  not  explain,  for  instance,  the 
force  that  tips  a  table.  But  it  does  endeavor  to 
explain  the  mind  that  directs  the  force  that  tips 
the  table,  and  that  for  a  true  solution  of  psychical 
phenomena  is  far  more  important.  It  admits  that 
an  outside  mind  can  work,  and  declares  that  this 
outside  mind  is  not  necessarily  the  mind  of  de- 
parted soul  or  devil. 

The  foundation  of  the  theory  is  very  rational. 
Genuine  cases  of  telepathy  are  known  to  science, 
as,  for  example,  the  mother  who  knows  that  her 
son  has  been  killed  though  that  son  may  be  miles 
away.  It  likens  minds  to  wireless  transmitters 
and  receivers.  Some  minds  can  send  messages; 
some  minds  are  better  at  receiving  them.  Some 
minds  are  tuned  only  for  certain  kinds  of  mes- 
sages ;  some,  for  others.  It  explains  much  of  the 
famous  cross-correspondence,  in  which  two  or 
three  or  more  mediums  widely  separated  commu- 
nicate apparently  incoherent  messages  which, 
when  put  together,  make  a  coherent  whole.  Ac- 
cording to  the  telepathic  theory,  some  mind  sends 
forth  the  quotation  as  some  wireless  station  sends 
forth  a  message*    Parts  of  it  are  tuned  for  some 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  131 

minds,  parts  for  others.  Each  mind  receives  what 
it  is  equipped  to  receive.  And  when  the  various 
disconnected  parts  are  put  together,  the  quotation 
is  found  to  be  in  its  original  form  as  sent  out 
in  the  first  case.  The  telepathic  theory  brings  out 
as  an  analogy  how  a  man  with  hypnotic  power  can 
influence  another  mind.  And  it  insists  on  the  deli- 
cacy, the  incredible  sensitiveness,  the  vast  re- 
sources of  that  as  yet  unexplored  ocean — the  sub- 
conscious mind. 

How  then  would  this  natural  theory  be  applied 
to  explain  our  two  typical  cases?  In  the  first 
case  in  which  the  medium  gives  a  message  pur- 
porting to  have  come  from  the  sitter's  aunt,  it  is 
simply  a  case  of  mind  reading  by  the  medium. 
The  subconscious  mind  of  the  sitter  is  the  "other 
mind"  in  the  problem.  In  that  subconscious  mind 
is  buried  the  memory  of  the  day  when  he  fell  off 
the  tree  and  told  his  aunt.  Through  some  ab- 
normal sensitiveness  the  subconscious  mind  of  the 
medium  becomes  aware  of  this  impression  and 
communicates  it  back.  In  the  second  case,  the 
mind  of  the  dying  man  thinks  of  his  son,  of  his 
former  home,  and  the  message  is  caught  by  the 
mind  of  the  medium  as  by  wireless  antennae.  The 
thoughts  of  the  dying  man  may  be  more  pointed 
because  of  his  condition,  in  which  case  the  "radia- 
tions" would  be  stronger  and  more  easily  inter- 


132  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

cepted.  It  is  true  that  in  this  hypothetical  case 
telepathy  has  not  a  ready  explanation  of  how  the 
medium  knew  the  man's  appearance,  etc.,  but  it 
would  maintain  that  some  form  of  clairvoyance 
may  have  accompanied  the  medium's  reception  of 
the  dying  man's  thoughts.  At  any  rate,  the  the- 
ory holds  that  in  the  receiving  of  these  details 
there  is  nothing  that  points  conclusively  to  either 
a  diabolical  or  a  spiritistic  agency,  and  excluding 
both,  it  would  seem  that  the  natural  theory  offers 
the  most  probable  explanation. 

This  theory  may  have  the  correct  explanation 
for  psychical  phenomena.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  may  not.  Time  and  the  accumulated  evidence 
and  continued  research  that  time  allows,  will  some 
day  tell.  It  is  only  a  theory.  But  it  is  in  its  in- 
fancy, as  is  all  psychology  that  now  studies  the 
abnormal  mind.  It  has  some  probability  to  back 
it.  And  its  studies  are  but  started  on  the  road 
that  leads  to  a  future,  dim  as  yet  but  promising. 
It  is  not  too  much  for  one  to  say  that  here  perhaps, 
in  telepathy  or  in  some  allied  study,  may  lie  the 
solution  of  the  problem  that  vexes  the  blurred  vi- 
sion of  today;  here  may  lie  the  explanation  of 
much  that  is  baffling  in  psychical  phenomena.  We, 
at  least,  can  say  that  it  affords  us  an  explanation 
of  the  typical  cases  which  we  presented. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   SPIRITISTIC   THEORY 

THE  "Spiritistic  Theory"  is  what  its  name 
implies — the  theory  that  the  outside  mind 
active  in  psychical  phenomena  is  the  mind  of  a 
discarnate  spirit. 

It  provides  a  very  simple  explanation  of  our 
typical  cases.  In  the  first  instance,  that  of  the  fall 
from  the  tree,  the  other  mind  which  provides  the 
information  is  the  disembodied,  the  discarnate 
soul  of  the  sitter's  aunt.  In  the  case  of  the  man 
killed  in  Melbourne,  the  other  mind  is  the  discar- 
nate soul  of  Thomas  Queen.  These  discarnate 
souls  have  power  to  levitate  tables  and  produce 
raps  and  similar  phenomena.  They  know  the  past 
and  the  present.  As  Sir  Conan  Doyle  says  ("The 
New  Revelation,"  p.  75)  :  *Tt  may  be  remarked 
in  passing  that  these  and  other  examples  show 
clearly  either  that  the  spirits  have  use  of  an  excel- 
lent reference  library  or  else  that  they  have  mem- 
ories which  produce  something-  like  omniscience." 

The  spiritistic  theory  is  of  universal  applica- 
tion, for  it  can  explain  all  cases.    It  does  not  ex- 

133 


134  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

elude  natural  theories,  for  these  theories  merely 
explain  the  methods  employed  by  the  spirits  in 
their  relations  with  men  on  earth.  Nor  does  it 
reject  the  diabolical  theory,  for  it  admits  that  at 
times  devils  may  take  the  place  of  the  discarnate 
souls,  as  these  souls  themselves  confess.  This 
theory,  it  is  declared,  has  come  as  a  balm  to  a 
weary  world,  as  an  inspiration  to  a  blind  people,  to 
give  new  ideals  to  many  long  grown  materialistic. 
It  comes,  its  advocates  proclaim,  to  afford  at  last 
a  proof  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  a  future  life. 

The  statement  of  this  theory  giving,  as  it  does, 
a  wide  range  and  radiant  subject  for  the  human 
imagination,  is  much  more  pleasant  and  more 
easily  swallowed  whole  than  taken  bit  by  bit 
in  the  logical  propositions  of  a  sound  proof,  not 
coated  by  any  imagination.  There  is  little  wonder 
that  so  many  have  swallowed  Spiritism,  for  it  has 
a  sugar  coating.  Much  ado  has  been  made  about 
so  little  because  it  came  in  the  guise  of  "absolute 
evidence."  If  its  advocates  had  worked  harder 
to  display  the  rock  bottom  on  which  the  "evi- 
dence" rested,  if  there  had  been  more  logic  and 
real  science,  and  less  enthusiastic  acceptance  of 
face  values,  the  theory  would  have  attracted  less 
attention,  made  less  noise  and  achieved  less  pres- 
tige.   As  it  happened  the  stories  of  wondrous  phe- 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  135 

nomena,  startling  messages,  new  teaching,  all 
were  immediately  and  seriously  heeded  by  thou- 
sands, opponents  and  advocates  alike. 

The  brief  treatment  of  this  book  has  aimed  to 
show  how  little  there  is  at  the  bottom,  how  few 
genuine  psychical  phenomena,  after  fraud  and 
natural  explanations,  humbug  and  misinterpreta- 
tions have  been  eliminated,  really  exist.  Every 
human  asset  conducive  to  success  attended  the 
birth  of  Spiritism.  The  credulousness  of  man- 
kind, its  desire  to  be  deceived,  the  strangeness  of 
the  new  belief,  the  craving  of  scientists  and 
pseudo-scientists  for  more  scientific  proofs  of 
immortality,  the  crudeness  of  modern  psychology, 
the  prevalent  loose-thinking,  the  ready  newspaper 
advertising,  all  offered  a  helping  hand. 

And  what  is  underneath  ?  What  are  the  foun- 
dation-stones of  this  bizarre  mansion  that  has 
sprung  into  existence  overnight?  Simply  this: 
*'the  word  of  the  spirits."  And  how  does  one 
know  that  those  who  deliver  the  message  are  spir- 
its? Because  they  themselves  say  so.  And  why 
does  one  believe  what  they  say?  Because  they 
are  spirits.  And  so  on,  to  exhaustion.  As  no  one 
now  on  earth  in  a  human  body  has  visited  the 
land  of  the  dead,  who  can  verify  the  messages 
purported  to  come  from  there  ?  There  has  never 
been  a  message  upon  which  any  disinterested  and 


136  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

judicious  man  could  put  his  finger  and  honestly 
say:  That  message  comes  only  from  the  soul  of 
the  dead.  But,  objects  the  Spiritist,  I  have  re- 
ceived messages  describing  the  land  of  the  dead. 
Ask  him  how  he  knows  that  the  description  is  ve- 
racious and  not  simply  the  product  of  some  human 
imagination,  and  he  cannot  reply.  But,  he  objects 
again,  these  messages  have  told  me  things  about 
this  world  that  only  the  spirit  of  someone  dead 
could  know.  The  fact  is  that  the  subject  of  the 
message  is  bounded  by  the  earth.  Ask  him  why 
he  concludes  that  only  the  soul  of  the  dead  can 
know  it,  how  he  is  sure  that  some  abnormally  sen- 
sitive mind  on  earth  may  not  have  received  im- 
pressions of  the  same  thing  and  communicated  it 
to  another  mind,  and  he  can  give  no  convincing 
reply. 

How  does  any  man  know  that  it  is  a  discarnate 
spirit  that  gives  the  message?  Obviously  the 
usual  explanation  that  the  spirit  itself  says  so,  is 
ridiculous.  But,  it  is  argued,  if  it  is  not  a  spirit, 
what  is  it,  who  is  it?  It  must  be  a  discarnate 
spirit  for  it  cannot  be  anyone  else.  They  ignore 
the  convincing  body  of  evidence  that  it  can  be 
someone  else, — someone  communicating  the  mes- 
sage through  fraudulent  means,  or  someone  em- 
ploying an  unusual  power  of  the  subconscious 
mind..   In  a  dream  I  may  imagine  myself  the  King 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  137 

of  England  and  speak  as  if  I  were  that  King. 
The  medium  may  do  the  same  thing  in  a  trance. 
A  man  will  do  the  same  thing  while  hypnotized. 
The  medium  in  a  trance  may  speak  as  Charle- 
magne or  Shakespeare,  but  that  does  not  mean 
that  Charlemagne  or  Shakespeare  is  talking.  Still, 
says  the  Spiritist,  there  are  messages  which  have 
to  do  with  our  daily  lives,  with  the  small  things 
as  well  as  the  great,  that  are  beyond  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  mind  of  the  medium.  Yes,  one  may 
reply,  those  are  the  messages  that  constitute  real 
psychical  phenomena.  Such  were  the  messages 
given  in  our  typical  examples,  and  such  messages 
may  be  explained  by  telepathy.  Only  in  the  source 
and  significance  of  the  message  can  we  expect  to 
find  a  scientific  basis  for  Spiritism.  Yet,  that 
these  messages  come  from  another,  an  outside 
mind,  is  proved  in  very  few  cases,  if  it  is  proved 
decisively  at  all.  And  in  these  very  few  cases  the 
assumption  that  the  other  mind  is  the  mind  of  a 
discarnate  spirit,  has  no  foundation  at  all.  We 
early  distinguished  between  the  force  and  the 
mind  directing  the  force.  We  showed  that  the 
whole  matter  turns  on  the  other  mind.  And  when 
we  examine  the  evidence  in  favor  of  this  other 
mind  being  a  discarnate  spirit,  as  Spiritists  allege, 
we  find  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  is  in  any  way 
convincing. 


138  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Spiritists  persist  in  pointing  out  the  table-tip- 
ping, the  raps,  etc.,  saying:  "Behold,  here  is  the 
evidence."  And  again  we  say — the  force  consid- 
ered alone,  the  physical  side  of  the  phenomena  dis- 
tinct from  the  mind  involved,  proves  nothing  ex- 
cept that  there  are  certain  vagaries  of  nature  of 
v^hich  we  know  practically  nothing,  and  such  a 
conclusion,  I  feel  sure,  would  surprise  no  one. 
That  certain  material  phenomena  without  any  in- 
tellectual significance  are  strange  and  mystifying, 
proves  only  that  they  are,  thus  far  at  least,  beyond 
our  knowledge. 

But  why, — one  cannot  refrain  from  asking  the 
advocates  of  Spiritism, — why  do  not  the  spirits 
use  direct  means  of  communication,  do  their  own 
writing  and  speaking  instead  of  employing  a  me- 
dium as  a  phonetic  organ  or  a  writing  instrument  ? 
Why  must  they  resort  to  such  a  suspicious  and 
wasteful  intermediary  method?  Because  they 
cannot  communicate  without  the  medium,  is  the 
answer.  Consider,  however,  did  not  the  spirits 
in  the  famous  experiment  of  Sir  William  Crookes 
play  an  accordion  one  end  of  which  was  held  by 
D.  D.  Home?  Were  not  the  keys  seen  to  move 
under  the  power  of  invisible  fingers?  Has  not 
Dr.  Crawford  shown  that  (in  the  presence  of  a 
medium)  the  spirits  have  rung  an  electric  bell 
("Reality  of  Psychic  Phenomena,"  p.  94)  ;  that 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  139 

they  have  also  (in  the  presence  of  a  medium) 
struck  typewriter  keys  (ib.,  p.  201);  and  have 
they  not  (in  the  presence  of  a  medium)  made 
marks  with  a  pencil  on  a  piece  of  paper?  ("Ex- 
periments in  Psychical  Science,"  p.  103.)  Is  it  not 
also  proclaimed  that  the  spirits  have  moved  heavy 
furniture  without  the  physical  contact  of  the 
medium,  that  they  have  made  marks  without 
using  the  hand  of  the  medium?  Then,  let  me  ask, 
why  do  they  not  do  these  things  without  the  pres- 
ence of  the  medium?  Or,  even  permitting  the 
presence  of  the  medium,  if  spirits  can  make  marks 
with  a  pencil  and  strike  typewriter  keys,  why  do 
they  not  use  these  powers  to  write  intelligible, 
coherent  messages  without  employing  the  hand  or 
physical  power  of  the  medium  ?  But  they  do  not. 
And  I  for  one  cannot  help  believing  that  there  are 
no  spirits  in  the  matter  at  all.  A  disinterested 
study  would  show  that  there  is  altogether  "too 
much  medium." 

At  this  point  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  re- 
mark how  curious  it  is  that  the  souls  of  enthusias- 
tic spiritists  maintain  a  strange  and  unexpected 
silence,  when  they  have  departed  to  the  world  be- 
yond. Messages  have  been  reported  to  have  come 
from  dead  spiritists,  but  these  messages  have  had 
little  to  justify  any  credence  in  them,  or  have  con- 
tained information  traceable  to  an  acquaintance- 


140  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

ship  with  the  person  while  on  earth,  or,  at  least,  to 
his  influence  while  here.  Clodd  quotes  an  inter- 
esting letter  from  the  family  of  F.  W.  H.  Myers, 
the  famous  spiritistic  enthusiast.  ("The  Ques- 
tion," p.  220,  221) : 

"To  the  Editor  of  TJie  Morning  Post: 

"Sir:  For  some  time  papers  and  periodicals 
have  been  drawing  the  attention  of  the  public 
to  various  spiritualistic  messages  purporting  to 
come  from  my  husband,  the  late  F.  W.  H. 
Myers.  My  son  and  I  wish  to  state,  in  reply 
to  many  inquiries  we  have  received,  that  after  a 
very  careful  study  of  all  the  messages,  we  have 
found  nothing  which  we  can  consider  of  the 
smallest  evidential  value.    Yours,  etc., 

"Eveleen  Myers." 

Clodd  then  goes  on  to  remark : 

"Surely  wife  and  children  would  be  the  first 
to  have  messages  from  their  beloved  one. 
Added  to  this  there  is  the  well-known,  damning 
fact  that  cannot  be  too  widely  known,  how 
Myers  left  behind  him,  in  the  care  of  the  So- 
ciety for  Psychical  Research,  a  sealed  letter 
written  in  1891,  the  contents  of  which  Mrs. 
Verrall  as  medium,  believed  that  she  could  re- 
veal. When  the  seal  was  broken  on  the  13th 
of  December,  1904,  three  years  after  his  death, 
there  was  found  to  be  no  resemblance  between 
the  contents  of  the  letter  and  Mrs.  Verrall's 
automatic  script  which  purported  to  contain  a 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  141 

communication  from  the  disincarnate  Myers. 
Sir  Oliver  suggested  that  Myers  may  have  for- 
gotten what  he  had  written  in  the  envelope :  as 
if  he  could  have  forgotten  that  which,  at  his 
own  initiative,  was  to  be  the  crucial  test  of  the 
survival  of  his  personality." 

The  spiritgrams  that  come  to  different  mediums 
uncontrolled  by  the  observer,  i.e.,  not  under  strict 
surveillance,  may  bring  unusual  and  sometimes 
startling  information,  as  sometimes  happens  in 
our  dreams.  But  when  it  is  a  question  of  obtain- 
ing definite  results,  of  discovering  information 
which  we  are  sure  cannot  be  communicated  to  the 
medium  by  telepathic  or  other  natural  means,  the 
test  fails;  or  if  there  are  some  results  obtained 
they  are  of  a  nature  so  ambiguous  and  unsatis- 
factory as  to  mean  nothing.  This  man  or 
that  may  be  convinced  of  the  reality  of  a  spiritis- 
tic communication,  but  such  is  merely  subjective 
certitude,  which  certitude  can  be  given  by  fraud 
or  ordinary  wizardry.  But  to  furnish  us  with  ob- 
jective proofs  of  communication  of  the  dead  with 
the  living,  through  mediums,  is  a  different  under- 
taking and  one  that  awaits  the  labor  of  the  spir- 
itists if  they  are  to  demand  attention  and  credence 
from  the  more  sensible  inhabitants  of  this  credu- 
lous world.  I  have  already  written  of  our  belief 
in  spontaneous  apparitions  of  the  dead,  but  it  is 


142  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

yet  to  be  proved  that  man  has  the  power  to  com- 
municate with  them  at  will. 

Non-Catholic  writers,  as  Sir  Conan  Doyle, 
often  confuse  spontaneous  phenomena  with  phe- 
nomena that  are  supposed  to  be  incited  by  some- 
one on  earth.  This  distinction  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. God  may,  in  special  cases,  allow  a  soul  to 
appear  because  of  His  Divine  disposition.  No 
Christian,  however,  who  has  any  respect  for  God 
and  His  providence,  would  believe  that  He  allows 
the  souls  of  the  blessed  or  the  souls  in  purgatory 
to  hover  about  the  earth,  ready  at  the  summons  of 
various  mediums  of  dubious  character,  to  join 
the  frolic  of  a  spiritistic  seance,  tipping  tables, 
blowing  trumpets,  strumming  on  guitars,  jangling 
tambourines,  conversing  on  idiotic  matters,  com- 
municating mere  nonsense,  and  sometimes  even 
uttering  blasphemy.  And  as  regards  the  Catholic 
idea  of  hell,  it  seems  impossible  that  God  would 
allow  the  souls  of  the  damned  to  attend  at  call 
the  orgies  of  the  ordinary  seance.  God  may  allow 
the  devil  to  act,  for  special  reasons  which  we 
may  not  know,  but  to  believe  that  God  permits 
man  to  call  the  inhabitants  of  hell  to  earth  as  suits 
their  passing  whim  or  curiosity,  seems  so  ridic- 
ulous as  to  be  beyond  probability.  That  this  is 
not  an  apodictical  reason,  I  admit,  but  it  has  a 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  143 

solid  foundation  in  Christian  common  sense.  And 
this  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  the  Church 
forbids  our  provoking  communication  with  the 
souls  of  the  dead* 


XV 

SPIRITISM  AS  A  RELIGION 

SPIRITISM,  as  a  religion,  is  the  religious  sys- 
tem that  is  based  upon  the  "Spiritistic  The- 
ory." It  is  the  religious  belief  that  the  souls  of  the 
departed  actually  communicate  with  us  through 
the  instrumentality  of  some  persons  of  a  special 
sensitiveness  called  mediums.  To  a  great  extent 
the  faith  and  morals  of  this  belief  are  based  upon 
these  communications. 

I  need  not  delay  long  here  to  comment  upon 
the  peculiar  attitude  of  the  followers  of  this  be- 
lief who  grasp  at  every  curious  happening  as  evi- 
dence for  their  religion,  and  who  speak  and  write 
and  act  as  if  there  was  a  vast,  accumulated  and 
verified  evidence  which  has  placed  their  belief  be- 
yond any  doubt.  Anyone  who  has  read  these  few 
pages  with  any  thoughtfulness  can  easily  see  what 
a  tremendous  leap  of  the  imagination  must  be 
taken,  to  link  the  spiritistic  theory,  feeble,  vague, 
and  uncertain  as  it  is,  with  the  cocksure  doctrines 
of    the    spiritistic    religious    beliefs.      Psychical 

phenomena,  as  we  have  seen,  are  at  best  too  few 

144 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  145 

and  too  dubious  to  afford  any  ground  for  any 
ordinary  beliefs  much  less  for  the  intricate  and 
fantastic  doctrines  of  Spiritism. 

The  Spiritist  presents  his  case  in  a  way  that  is 
appealing  to  many.  Methods  of  communication, 
he  says,  have  improved  with  the  centuries.  The 
wireless  telegraph  and  telephone  which  allow  us 
to  communicate  with  Asia  and  Europe  in  a  short 
time, — how  far  have  they  surpassed  the  old 
methods  that  were  simply  travellers'  tales,  and 
based  on  faith  in  human  testimony!  Today  we 
receive  a  wireless  message  telling  us  what  hap- 
pened a  few  hours  ago  in  Asia;  once  we  would 
have  had  to  rely  on  a  Marco  Polo  to  tell  us  the 
incidents  of  years  back.  And  just  as  modern 
methods  of  communication  have  improved  upon 
the  old,  so  Spiritism  has  surpassed  the  Catholic 
Church.  No  longer  do  men  have  to  take  the  word 
of  Christ  or  of  the  Church  as  to  the  fate  of  our 
souls  after  death.  Now  we  call  one  from  heaven 
or  hell  with  the  ^tid  of  a  medium  or  a  ouija  board 
and  all  the  information  is  supplied  us. 

Such  is  the  presentation  of  the  case.  It  is  need- 
less to  remark  that  such  a  presentation  is  not  true. 
If  Spiritism  could  do  what  is  claimed,  it  would 
be  but  a  matter  of  months  before  millions  would 
be  enrolled  under  its  banner.    People  may  be 


146  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

fooled,  but  no  great  number  will  be  fooled  for  a 
great  length  of  time. 

Just  what  Spiritism  is  may  be  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing quotations.  (Statistics  of  Religious  Bodies, 
compiled  by  U.  S.  Gov.,  1906,  vol.  II,  p.  627; 
"Spiritualists,  Their  Declaration  of  Principles.") 

*'We  believe  in  an  Infinite  Intelligence;  and 
the  phenomena  of  Nature,  physical  and  spir- 
itual, are  the  expressions  of  Infinite  Intelli- 
gence. 

"We  afiirm  that  a  correct  understanding  of 
such  expressions,  and  living  in  accordance  with 
them,  constitute  the  true  religion." 

The  way  to  obtain  the  correct  understanding  is 
by  communication  with  the  dead  who,  of  course, 
are  supposed  to  know  much  more  of  the  phenom- 
ena of  nature  than  we.  Accordingly,  the  whole 
foundation  of  Spiritism  as  a  different  religion  is : 

"that  the  existence  and  personal  identity  of 
the  individual  continue  after  the  change  called 
'death,'  and  that  communication  with  the  so- 
called  'dead'  is  a  fact  scientifically  proven  by 
the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism." 

This  declaration  of  principles  has  been  printed 
on  small  cards  and  distributed  among  the  believ- 
ers. It  is  considered  authentic,  at  least  by  the 
members  of  the  National  Spiritualists'  Associa- 
tion of  America.    From  this  declaration  we  have 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  147 

one  thing  as  certain:  that  the  Spiritists  base  all 
their  religious  beliefs  on  the  scientifically  demon- 
strated fact  of  the  communication,  by  mediums, 
between  the  living  and  the  dead.  Yet,  as  we  have 
seen,  Spiritism  is  only  an  hypothesis.  Such  com- 
munication has  not  as  yet  been  scientifically 
proven.  No  matter  how  fervent  the  belief  of 
Spiritists,  no  matter  how  enthusiastic  their  decla- 
ration, Spiritism  is  and  remains  an  hypothesis,  an 
hypothesis  which,  as  regards  its  foundation,  may, 
if  you  wish,  be  reckoned  as  a  probable  explanation 
of  a  few  psychical  phenomena,  and  which,  as  re- 
gards its  origin,  is  traced  to  the  fraud  of  the  Fox 
sisters.  No  scientist,  however  great,  can  declare 
Spiritism  a  scientific  fact.  This  point,  here  and 
on  every  other  occasion,  cannot  be  stressed  too 
much. 

However,  in  order  to  discuss  Spiritism  with 
Spiritists,  on  their  own  basis,  we  will  admit  for  a 
few  moments,  the  assumption  that  it  is  not  based 
on  a  theory,  but  on  a  scientific  fact. 

To  communicate  with  Russia  by  wireless,  we 
need  an  operator  in  Russia  as  well  as  here.  So, 
according  to  Spiritism,  to  communicate  with  de- 
parted souls  we  need  not  only  a  medium  in  this 
world  but  also  a  "control"  in  the  other.  Says  Sir 
William  Barrett: 


148  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

".,  .  .  it  is  well  to  note  the  meaning  attached 
to  the  words  'control'  and  'communicator.'  By 
the  former  is  meant  the  intelligence  which  is,  or 
professed  to  be,  in  direct  communication  with 
the  sitter  through  the  voice,  or  writing  of  the 
medium.  By  'communicator'  is  meant  the  intel- 
ligence for  which  the  control  acts  as  amanuen- 
sis or  interpreter,  or  whose  remarks  or  tele- 
pathic impress  the  control  repeats  to  the  sitter 
through  the  medium.  This  definition,  given  by 
Mrs.  Sidgwick,  is  generally  accepted.  ("On  the 
Threshold  of  the  Unseen,"  pp.  242,  243.) 

We  discussed  how  difficult  it  was  to  find  a  de- 
pendable medium,  how  hard  it  was  to  be  sure  of 
the  results.  Sir  Conan  Doyle,  writing  of  Home, 
declared : 

'Tt  is  to  be  remarked  in  the  career  of  this  en- 
tirely honest  and  unvenal  medium  that  he  had 
periods  in  his  life  when  his  powers  deserted  him 
completely,  that  he  could  foresee  these  lapses, 
and  that,  being  honest  and  unvenal,  he  simply 
abstained  from  all  attempts  until  the  power  re- 
turned. It  is  this  intermittent  character  of  the 
gift  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  responsible  for 
cases  when  a  medium  who  has  passed  the  most 
rigid  tests  upon  certain  occasions,  is  afterwards 
detected  in  simulating,  very  clumsily,  the  re- 
sults which  he  had  once  successfully  accom- 
plished. The  real  power  having  failed,  he  has 
not  the  moral  courage  to  admit  it,  nor  the  self- 
denial  to  forego  his  fee  which  he  endeavours  to 
earn  by  a  travesty  of  what  was  once  genuine. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  149 

Such  an  explanation  would  cover  some  facts 
which  otherwise  are  hard  to  reconcile.  We 
must  also  admit  that  some  mediums  are  ex- 
tremely irresponsible  and  feather-headed  peo- 
ple."   ('The  Vital  Message,"  pp.  40,  41.) 

First,  then,  is  the  great  difficulty  of  finding  a 
dependable  medium  who  does  not,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  employ  his  or  her  own  wits,  but  re- 
produces the  message  as  far  as  possible  in  accord- 
ance with  the  communication  of  the  control.  Sup- 
pose we  have  found  such  a  medium,  and  are  able, 
in  some  way  or  other,  to  he  sure  of  this  honesty 
and  dependability.  Then,  the  difficulty  presents 
itself  of  determining  the  honesty  and  reliability 
of  our  control — no  easy  task,  as  you  may  im- 
agine. How  are  we  going  to  do  this  ?  I,  for  one, 
cannot  answer.  I  have  no  influence  with  these 
modern  operators  of  the  other  world.  I  do  not 
know.  Sir  Conan  Doyle  quotes  a  General  Dray- 
son  on  this  subject: 

"The  truth  is  that  every  spirit  in  the  flesh 
passes  over  to  the  next  world  exactly  as  it  is, 
with  no  change  whatever.  This  world  is  full 
of  weak  or  foolish  people.  So  is  the  next.  You 
need  not  mix  with  them,  any  more  than  you  do 
in  this  world.  One  chooses  one's  companions. 
But  suppose  a  man  in  this  world,  who  had  lived 
in  his  house  alone  and  never  mixed  with  his  fel- 
lows, was  at  last  to  put  his  head  out  of  the  win- 


150  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

dow  to  see  what  sort  of  place  it  was,  what 
would  happen  ?  Some  naughty  boy  would  prob- 
ably say  something-  rude.  .  .  In  a  mixed  seance, 
with  no  definite  aim,  you  have  thrust  your  head 
into  the  next  world  and  you  have  met  some 
naughty  boys."  ("The  New  Revelation,"  p.  21, 
22.) 

"Good  as  well  as  mischievous  agencies  doubt- 
less exist  in  the  unseen,"  says  Sir  William  Bar- 
rett ("On  the  Threshold  of  the  Unseen,"  p. 
250).  "This,  of  course,  is  equally  true  if  the 
phenomena  are  due  to  those  who  have  once  lived 
on  the  earth.  'There  are  as  great  fools  in  the 
spirit  world  as  there  ever  were  in  this,'  as 
Henry  More  said  over  200  years  ago." 

These  "naughty  boys,"  these  jesters  of  the 
spirit  world,  appear  very  often  in  spiritistic  com- 
munications, and  some  of  them  have  achieved 
more  fame  than  if  they  had  acted  in  seriousness, 
as  for  example,  the  famous  John  King,  who  con- 
trolled Eusapia  Palladino ;  the  no  less  famous  Phi- 
nuit,  for  so  many  years  the  control  of  Mrs.  Piper, 
and  finally  the  well-known  Feda,  who  controlled 
Mrs.  Leonard  and  furnished  Sir  Oliver 
with  the  information  for  his  enjoyable  "Ray- 
mond." I  cannot  resist  quoting  a  few  words  from 
one  of  Feda's  communications  to  good  Sir  Oliver : 

"A  chap  came  over  here  the  other  day,  and 
would  have  a  cigar.    'That's  finished  them,'  he 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  151 

thought.  He  means  he  thought  they  would 
never  be  able  to  provide  that.  But  there  are 
laboratories  over  here,  and  they  manufacture 
all  sorts  of  things  in  them.  Not  like  you  do, 
out  of  solid  matter,  but  out  of  essences,  and 
ethers  and  gases.  It's  not  the  same  as  on  the 
earth  plane,  but  they  were  able  to  manufacture 
what  looked  like  a  cigar.  He  didn't  try  one 
himself,  because  he  didn't  care  to;  you  know  he 
wouldn't  want  to.  But  the  other  chap  jumped 
at  it.  But  when  he  began  to  smoke  it,  he  didn't 
think  so  much  of  it ;  he  had  four  altogether,  and 
now  he  doesn't  look  at  one.  They  don't  seem 
to  get  the  same  satisfaction  out  of  it,  so  grad- 
ually it  seems  to  drop  from  them.  But  when 
they  first  come  .they  want  to  do  things.  Some 
want  meat,  and  some  strong  drink ;  they  call  for 
whisky  sodas.  Don't  think  I'm  stretching  it, 
when  I  tell  you  that  they  can  manufacture  even 
that.  But  when  they  have  had  one  or  two,  they 
don't  seem  to  want  it  so  much — not  those  who 
are  near  here,  He  has  heard  of  drunkards  who 
want  it  for  months  and  years  over  here,  but  he 
hasn't  seen  any." 

Professor  Flournoy  summarizes  the  situation 
very  ably  when  he  says : 

"What  stands  out  more  clearly  than  anything 
else  in  the  preceding  argument  concerning  the 
authenticity  of  the  mediumistic  messages  and 
the  true  identity  of  their  senders  is  the  startling 
contrast  which  exists  upon  this  point  between 


152  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

the  judgment  of  savants  who  are  famiHar  with 
the  question  and  the  current  opinion  of  the  or- 
dinary spiritistic  circles. 

"For  these  latter  nothing  is  more  easy  or 
more  common  than  to  converse  with  the  depart- 
ed. It  is  sufficient  for  a  medium  to  obtain  re- 
sponses through  a  table  or  by  means  of  a  pencil, 
and,  setting  aside  the  risk  of  meeting  with  de- 
ceiving spirits  (for  there  are  dishonest  people 
in  the  other  world  as  there  are  here,  we  are 
told),  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  usual 
communications  proceed  from  the  source  from 
which  they  purport  to  proceed.  For  the  special- 
ists of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  on 
the  contrary — even  if  they  are  spiritistic  in  con- 
viction, like  Hodgson  or  Hyslop — nothing  is 
more  rare  than  to  find  a  true  medium,  and  more 
difficult  than  to  distinguish  the  authentic  from 
what  is  not  authentic,  in  their  messages.  For 
the  best  mediums  constantly  mix  their  dreams 
and  their  subliminal  reveries  with  what  comes 
to  them  from  the  Beyond,  without  speaking  of 
perturbations  due  to  the  influence  of  the  liv- 
ing; and  with  the  disincarnate  themselves  it 
seems  that  there  are  such  difficulties  to  over- 
come in  order  to  communicate  with  us  that  we 
can  never  be  sure  of  the  verbal  correctness  of 
any  of  the  messages  received. 

"Hodgson  compared  the  communication 
which  he  held  with  the  deceased  through  the 
channel  of  the  medium  (Mrs.  Piper)  to  the  con- 
versations which  might  take  place  in  this  world 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  153 

between  two  persons  widely  separated  from 
each  other,  who  are  compelled  to  exchange  their 
messages  by  means  of  two  messengers,  both  of 
them  drunk.  .  .  .  But  if  this  be  so  in  the  case 
of  the  most  powerful  medium  of  our  generation, 
and  of  a  deceased  person  who  had  given  his  life 
to  the  solution  of  this  problem  and  had  re- 
solved to  do  everything  possible  after  his  death 
to  manifest  himself  to  us,  what  ought  it  to  be  in 
ordinary  cases?  And  how  completely  duped 
are  those  mediums,  professional  and  amateurs, 
who  imagine  that  they  are  the  recipients  of  com- 
munications freely  coming  from  innumerable 
'spirits'  on  the  other  side!"  (''Spiritism  and 
Psychology,"  p.  183-185.) 

But  suppose  we  have  found  an  absolutely  de- 
pendable medium,  and  suppose,  also,  we  have  ob- 
tained and  identified  beyond  doubt  an  absolutely 
dependable  control;  admitting  the  possibility  of 
this  almost  impossibility,  let  us  see,  if  we  can, 
in  any  way,  be  sure  of  the  third  agency,  the  ''com- 
municator," the  one  who,  using  the  control  as  an 
operator,  communicates  with  us  in  this  world. 

First  of  all,  according  to  spiritistic  revelations, 
there  are  different  planes  and  spheres  in  the  next 
world,  and  the  spirits  know  little  outside  of  their 
own  plane  or  sphere.  They  pray  and  die  in  one 
sphere  before  entering  another.  ("The  New  Rev- 
elation," p.  25.)    Furthermore,  duration  of  life  in 


154  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

the  next  sphere  is  shorter  than  on  earth.  (lb.,  p. 
Q.y.')  For  spirits  to  communicate  between  one 
plane  and  another,  they  need  mediums  and  con- 
trols in  each  plane  to  act  as  spiritual  relays.  The 
difficulties  then,  of  communicating  between  the 
planes,  are  obvious.  "Communications  usually 
come  from  those  who  have  not  long  passed  over, 
and  tend  to  grow  fainter,  as  one  would  expect." 
''The  cases  of  spirits  who  give  good  proofs  of 
authenticity  and  yet  have  passed  some  time  are 
not  common." 

The  greater  number  of  communications  come 
from  the  first  plane.  On  this  plane,  as  regards 
their  knowledge,  the  spirits  are  like  recently-born 
babies,  or  at  the  most,  like  children.  Are  we  go- 
ing to  put  any  faith  in  the  accuracy  of  their  tes- 
timony ?  At  best  our  information  would  be  a  very 
vague  and  inconsequent  hodge-podge — such  as 
was  witnessed  in  our  quotations  from  Raymond's 
communications  through  Feda.  But,  says  Sir 
Conan  Doyle: 

'Tf  one  of  us  were  suddenly  called  up  by  the 
denizen  of  some  sub-human  world,  and  were 
asked  to  explain  exactly  what  gravity  is,  or 
what  magnetism  is,  how  helpless  we  should  be ! 
We  may  put  ourselves  in  the  position,  then,  of 
a  young  engineer  soldier  like  Raymond  Lodge, 
who  tries  to  give  some  theory  of  matter  in  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  155 

beyond — a  theory  which  is  very  likely  contra- 
dicted by  some  other  spirit  who  is  also  guessing 
at  things  above  him.  He  may  be  right,  or  he 
may  be  wrong,  but  he  is  doing  his  best  to  say 
what  he  thinks,  as  we  should  do  in  a  similar 
case."    ('The  New  Revelation,"  pp.  78,  79.) 

Quite  true — but  it  only  goes  to  prove  how  un- 
satisfactory is  such  a  source  of  belief.  Where, 
for  instance,  are  we  to  get  any  reliable  knowledge 
concerning  this  religion  of  ours  and  just  what  are 
we  to  believe? 

"The  entities  behind  my  experimental  circles 
have  shown  themselves  by  their  acts  to  be  essen- 
tially human  beings ;  and  in  this  respect  they  con- 
form to  the  general  rules  all  over  the  world." 
("Hints  and  Observations,"  Dr.  Crawford,  p.  9.) 
And,  if  this  is  so,  then  we  may  say  as  Sir  Conan 
Doyle  said,  speaking  of  automatic  writing: 
".  .  .  you  are  at  one  end  of  the  telephone,  if  one 
may  use  such  a  simile,  and  you  have  no  assurance 
as  to  who  is  at  the  other  end."  ("The  Vital 
Message,"  p.  46.) 

How,  then,  is  anyone  to  be  certain  of  anything? 
If  one  spirit  says  there  is  no  hell  and  another  says 
there  is,  which  is  to  be  believed?  If  one  says  you 
have  to  be  good  to  be  happy  in  the  next  world,  and 
another  says  it  is  a  matter  of  choice,  who  is  to  be 
followed?    There  are  so  many  opportunities  for 


156  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

believing  that  the  medium  may  be  dishonest,  or 
the  control,  or  the  communicator,  or  all  three,  or 
that  one  of  them  or  all  may  be  mischievous,  or 
confused,  or  misinformed,  that  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  obtain  even  one  message  that  could 
in  any  honest  consideration  be  held  reliable. 

And  if  such  is  the  case  how  is  one  to  build  up 
a  religion,  how  is  one  to  discover  rules  for  living, 
how  is  one  to  know  what  to  believe  and  what  not 
to  believe  ?  The  answer  is  too  stupendous  for  me. 
And  this  utter  uncertainty  presents  itself  even 
after  we  have  admitted  for  the  sake  of  clarity, 
that  discarnate  spirits  do  communicate  with  us 
through  mediums — which  admission  is  most  du- 
bious of  all. 

To  trust  the  testimony  of  any  person,  you  need : 
I,  to  be  morally  certain  that  the  person  telling  you 
the  fact  is  telling  you  the  truth  as  far  as  he  knows 
it ;  and  2,  that  such  person  knows  what  he  is  talk- 
ing about.  According  to  the  admissions  of  the 
Spiritists  themselves,  as  we  have  quoted,  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  be  certain  of  the  identity  of  the 
spirit  who  is  communicating  with  you,  and  if  you 
are  not  certain  of  his  or  her  identity,  you  cannot 
be  certain  of  his  or  her  truthfulness.  But,  ad- 
mitting that  you  are  certain  of  the  identity  and 
truthfulness  of  the  spirit  communicating,  it  is 
impossible — for  you  know  nothing  about  it — to 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  i57 

be  sure  that  he  knows  what  he  is  talking  about. 
(See  quotation  above  from  Doyle's  "The  New 
Revelation,"  p.  78,  79.)  And  even  if  both  these 
necessary  conditions  were  positively  established, 
how  is  anyone  to  know  that  ''the  line  of  communi- 
cation" is  trustworthy  and  unhampered?  All  these 
questions  should  be  answered  before  Spiritism 
even  begins  to  have  a  foundation  as  a  religion. 
Many  have  been  having  their  knowing  laugh  at 
the  faith  of  Catholics.  Spiritists  look  at  it  as  an  il- 
lusion that  is  passing  in  the  penetrating  light  of 
their  beliefs.  But  the  Spiritist  believes  far  more 
than  the  Catholic,  and  he  believes  it  with  infinitely 
less  foundation.  And  the  faith  of  Catholics  is  not 
only  well-established,  but  it  is  reasonable,  and  has 
endured  the  test  of  twenty  centuries. 

Another  quotation  from  Professor  Flournoy  is 
apposite : 

"I  fear  .  .  .  for  mediums  and  practical  spir- 
itists that,  when  their  hypothesis  shall  have  been 
scientifically  demonstrated,  the  result  may  be 
very  dififerent  from  that  which  they  now  im- 
agine it  to  be.  It  might  well  happen  that  the 
cult  of  the  table,  automatic  writing,  seances, 
and  all  other  mediumistic  practices,  may  receive 
their  death-blow  from  the  official  recognition 
of  spirits  by  science.  Suppose,  in  fact,  that 
contemporary  researches  should  at  last  have 


158  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

proved  clearly  that  messages  actually  come  from 
the  discarnate;  it  has  already  followed  from 
the  same  researches  that,  in  the  most  favorable 
cases,  the  veritable  messages  are  very  difficult 
to  distinguish  from  those  which  are  not  au- 
thentic. When  people  come  to  understand  that 
this  sorting  of  messages  is  almost  always  be- 
yond their  power  they  will,  perhaps,  be  put  out 
of  conceit  with  experiments  in  which  they  have 
ninety-nine  chances  against  one  of  being  duped, 
by  themselves  or  others,  and  in  which — a  still 
more  vexatious  matter — if  they  should  even  be 
so  fortunate  as  to  light  upon  the  hundredth 
chance,  they  would  have  no  certain  means  of 
knowing  it. 

"We  hardly  see  people  seeking  for  gold  in 
the  sands  of  the  Arve,  though  there  is  some 
there,  nevertheless,  because  'the  game  is  not 
worth  the  candle,'  and  no  one  would  care  to 
move  so  much  mud  for  the  sake  of  seeing  a 
problematical  glitter  at  the  end.  ...  In  like 
manner  ...  it  appears  to  me  probable  that 
spiritistic  practices  will  lose  more  and  more 
their  charm  in  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which 
science  shows  us  the  rarity  of  authentic  mes- 
sages, and  the  impossibility  of  recognizing  them 
once  received.  But  it  is  true  that  to  children, 
paste  will  always  produce  the  same  illusion  as 
veritable  jewels."  (''Spiritism  and  Psychol- 
ogy," p.  1 86,  187.) 

In  a  word:     If  you  admit  the  spiritistic  hy- 
pothesis that  communication  with  the  souls  of  the 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   159 

dead  is  possible  through  mediums,  there  is  very 
little  foundation  for  anything  that  even  resembles 
a  religion;  and  if  you  deny  the  hypothesis,  there 
is  none  at  all.. 


1 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SPIRITISM    AND    MORALS 

THE  fact  that  at  present  we  have  no  certain 
knowledge  of  the  real  and  universal  cause  of 
psychical  phenomena  in  no  way  affects  the  moral 
aspect  of  the  question.  Even  if  some  day,  in  the 
future,  it  is  discovered  that  the  mind-part  of  these 
phenomena  admits  of  a  telepathic  explanation  and 
the  force  that  produces  the  physical  effect  is  of  a 
natural  origin,  the  situation  now  is  what  it  is; 
future  decisions  do  not  change  its  present  form. 

I  see  a  table  moving  under  my  fingers  and  sud- 
denly rising  unaided  before  me,  and  I  am  awe- 
struck. My  mystification  at  that  moment  is  no 
greater  or  less,  if  a  half-hour  later  I  am  to  be  told 
that  the  table  was  levitated  by  an  ordinary  magi- 
cian's trick,  or  by  the  spirits  or  devil,  or  simply  by 
the  control  of  some  rare  natural  force. 

Ordinarily  attendance  at  seances,  dealing,  as 
they  usually  do,  with  the  abnormal,  has  a  tendency 
to  disturb  a  man's  normal  balance.  A  man  at- 
tends a  seance  deliberately  to  communicate  with 
the  souls  of  the  dead,  or  to  see  if  such  communica- 

i6o 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   i6i 

tion  is  possible.  Startling  effects  may  be  pro- 
duced. He  does  not  know  the  cause.  Extraordi- 
nary explanations,  the  effects  themselves,  the  gen- 
eral atmosphere  of  the  seance,  all  tend  to  upset 
his  ordinarily  sound  standards  of  judgment,  and 
incline  him  to  superstitious  beliefs  and  practices. 
It  is  to  prevent  this  superstitious  attitude  that  the 
Church  from  the  early  ages  has  always  forbidden 
any  attempt  to  communicate  with  the  dead.  This 
can  be  seen  in  the  declarations  of  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Carthage,  the  Fifth  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople, the  Second  of  Tours,  the  Sixth  of 
Paris,  the  First  of  Ancra,  the  Fourth,  Fifth, 
Twelfth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  of  Toledo, 
and  many  more. 

In  all  these  the  practice  of  communicating  with 
the  dead  is  forbidden.  Rome  also  has  spoken.  A 
question  was  proposed  to  the  Holy  Office,  inquir- 
ing whether  it  was  allowable  to  take  part  in  spir- 
itistic communications  or  manifestations  of  any 
kind,  such  as  asking  questions  of  souls  of  the  dead 
and  hearing  their  answers;  or  even  to  take  part 
without  any  desire  to  communicate  with  the  spir- 
its. The  Holy  Office  replied  that  all  such  practices 
were  illicit.    (Sac.  Cong.  S.  Officii,  17  Apr.,  191 7.) 

The  Church,  however,  it  must  be  remembered, 
has  not  declared  that  it  is  the  spirits,  nor  yet  devils, 
who  communicate  with  us  by  the  way  of  mediums. 


i62  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

A  number  of  ecclesiastical  writers  maintain  that 
the  devil  is  the  agent  in  many  of  the  phenomena 
of  Spiritism.  (For  a  discussion  of  this,  see  "Spir- 
itism and  Religion,"  by  Baron  John  Liljencrants, 
A.M.,  S.T.D.) 

In  the  condemnation  of  immoral  books  the 
Church  gives  no  specific  reason  for  her  course. 
She  speaks  with  authority,  and  her  credentials  are 
sound.  Thus  also  she  forbids  Catholics  to  con- 
sult with  the  dead,  in  any  way.  The  Church 
knows  best,  and  it  is  for  Catholics  to  obey.  There 
is  a  document  of  particular  importance  on  this 
matter  issued  by  an  American  Council,  the  Second 
Council  of  Baltimore  (Title  I  c.  VII  n.  36)  : 

"However  it  seems  a  well  established  fact 
that  many  of  the  wonderful  phenomena  which 
are  said  to  be  produced  at  Spiritistic  Circles 
are  either  altogether  fictitious,  or  are  produced 
by  a  fraudulent  conspiracy  among  the  'perform- 
ers,' or  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  imagination 
of  persons  called  mediums,  or  to  the  credulity 
of  the  spectators,  or  finally,  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  a  certain  sleight  of  hand  such  as  magicians 
practise.  However,  it  seems  hardly  to  be  doubt- 
ed that  certain  things,  at  least,  are  due  to  Sa- 
tanic intervention,  since  they  can  scarcely  in 
any  other  way  be  satisfactorily  explained." 

''Bene  vero  videtur  esse  cxploratmn,  plura 
quae  in  Circulis  Spiritismi  cxhiberi  phacnoinena 
miranda  diciintur,  vcl  esse  umnino  ementita  et 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE   163 

operatorum  inter  se  collusione  fraudulenta  pro- 
ducta,  vel  personarum  quae  dicuntur  media  im- 
aginationi  et  spectatorum  credulitati  esse 
praesertim  adscribenda,  vel  demun  manuali 
cuidam  dexteritati,  qualis  apud  praestigiatores 
usii  venit,  esse  tribuenda.  Vix  dubitandum 
tamen  videtur,  quaedam  saltern  ex  eis  a  Satan- 
ico  interventu  esse  repetenda,  cum  vix  alio  modo 
satis  explicari  possint." 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council,  it  should  be  no- 
ticed, do  not  declare  that  the  devil  is  the  agent. 
They  say  that  ''it  seems  hardly  to  be  doubted," 
that  is,  you  can  doubt,  though  your  doubt  would 
be  scarcely  reasonable,  that  "certain  things,  at 
least,"  that  is,  some  particular  cases,  not  every 
case,  *'are  due  to  Satanic  intervention,"  and  they 
give  as  a  reason  that  they  can  scarcely  be  satis- 
factorily explained  in  any  other  way. 

This  statement  of  the  Fathers  is  perhaps  the 
best  treatment  of  the  various  explanations  of  spir- 
itistic phenomena  that  has  yet  appeared.  It  says 
in  a  few  words  what  I  am  trying  to  say  in  these 
rather  numerous  pages.  In  replying  to  the  many 
questions  asked  of  Catholics  in  regard  to  Spirit- 
ism, one  could  do  no  better  than  to  quote  these 
words  of  the  Fathers  of  Baltimore. 

Spiritism  today  differs  little  from  that  supersti- 
tion known  for  centuries  as  "divination"  or  "vain 


i64  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

observance."  We  constantly  find  the  "evil  spirit" 
seeking  to  ensnare  men  in  various  erroneous  ex- 
planations of  the  Hereafter,  so  that,  in  the  words 
of  St.  Thomas  (2-2-q.  96),  ''being  implicated  in 
these  observances,  they  may  become  more  curious 
and  get  themselves  more  entangled  in  the  mani- 
fold snares  of  pernicious  error." 

The  practice  of  consulting  the  dead  through 
sorcerers,  necromancers,  conjurors,  and  similar 
agencies  ("mediums"  of  the  past)  is  expressly 
condemned  in  Holy  Writ.  In  Leviticus  (xx:6) 
wt  read :  "The  soul  that  shall  go  aside  after  ma- 
gicians, and  soothsayers,  ...  I  will  set  my  face 
against  that  soul,  and  destroy  it  out  of  the  midst 
of  its  people."  And  the  Sacred  Book  goes  further 
than  prohibition  and  malediction,  saying:  "Wiz- 
ards thou  shalt  not  suffer  to  live."  (Exodus 
xxii:i8.) 

There  are  other  reasons  why  a  Catholic  should 
avoid  actively  participating  in  the  production  of 
spiritistic  phenomena.  Apart  from  any  moral 
consideration,  such  practices  tend  to  cultivate 
over-emotionalism  and  lack  of  mental  balance  in 
the  participator,  as  any  similar  practice  would, 
whether  connected  with  Spiritism  or  not.  But 
besides  this,  these  practices  are  a  menace  to  health 
and  bring  on  various  nervous  diseases.  Says  Sir 
William  Barrett : 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  165 

".  .  .  there  is  certainly  some  evidence  indicat- 
ing that  continual  sittings  for  physical  phe- 
nomena cause  an  illegitimate  and  excessive 
drain  on  the  vitality  of  a  medium,  creating  a 
nervous  exhaustion  v^hich  is  apt  to  lead,  in  ex- 
treme cases,  to  mental  derangement,  or  to  an 
habitual  resort  to  stimulants,  with  a  no  less  de- 
plorable end."  ("On  the  Threshold  of  the  Un- 
seen," p.  261.) 

And  again,  speaking  of  mediums,  he  says : 

"The  danger  to  the  medium  lies,  in  my  opin- 
ion, not  only  in  the  loss  of  spiritual  stamina,  but 
in  the  possible  deprivation  of  that  birthright 
we  each  are  given  to  cherish,  our  individuality, 
our  true  self-hood;  just  as  in  another  way  this 
may  be  impaired  by  sensuality,  opium,  or  al- 
cohol."   (lb.,  250,  251.) 

If  a  Catholic  admits  the  spiritistic  hypothesis 
and  ascribes  the  phenomena  to  discarnate  spirits, 
since  he  cannot  admit  that  these  souls  are  souls 
from  heaven  or  purgatory,  he  must  admit  that 
they  are  the  souls  of  the  damned.  The  results 
from  any  communication  with  these  souls  can  be 
nothing  but  evil.  The  danger  of  even  attempting 
such  communication  must  be  obvious.  If  a  Cath- 
olic, on  the  other  hand,  believes  that  the  agency 
of  these  phenomena  is  the  devil,  and  still  indulges 
in  producing  or  assisting  to  produce  them,  he  is 
simply  perpetrating  the  slow  suicide  of  his  soul. 
Any  intimacy  with  the  practices  of  Spiritism,  no 


i66  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

matter  how  we  believe  the  phenomena  to  be  pro- 
duced, endangers  our  moral,  physical,  and  relig- 
ious health.  It  is  probably  an  exaggeration  to  say, 
as  some  do,  that  those  active  in  spiritistic  prac- 
tices become  in  time  afflicted  with  insanity  in 
some  form  or  other,  but  it  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  they  pay  the  price  in  some  fashion,  spir- 
itual or  physical.^ 

When  a  mother  hears  that  the  people  in  a  house 
nearby  are  afflicted  with  some  contagious  disease, 
she  forbids  her  children  to  play  near  that  house, 
or  to  associate  with  those  in  it.  She  is  particu- 
larly strict  in  her  prohibition  if  she  sees  that  many 
of  those  who  dwelt  in  the  house  or  visited  it,  have 
been  carried  away  in  death.  She  may  not  be  sure 
that  there  is  some  contagious  disease  lurking  in 
that  house.  It  may  be  only  a  rumor,  utterly  false 
or  without  foundation.  Nevertheless,  she  insists 
that  her  loved  ones  keep  away.  She  does  so,  not 
merely  for  her  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  her 
children.  Such,  likewise,  is  the  position  of  the 
Church,  when  she  forbids  her  children  to  avoid 
spiritistic  practices,  when  those  practices  "take 
the  form  of  consultation  with  the  dead."  The 
Church  is  our  mother.  Her  maternal  eyes  are 
keen  to  detect  danger  even  afar  off.    She  is  ever 

*Dr.  Crawford,  often  quoted  in  this  book,  committed  suicide 
a  few  months  ago. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  167 

solicitous  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  her  children. 
She  knows  that  she  is  built  on  the  rock  and  that 
the  Gates  of  Hell  will  not  prevail  against  her.  She 
has  the  promise  of  Christ,  her  Founder,  that 
heaven  and  earth  will  pass  away,  but  not  His 
word.  And  she  has  behind  her  the  solid  experience 
of  twenty  centuries.  Not  for  her  sake  are  her 
warnings  on  Spiritism,  but  for  the  sake  of  her 
children. 

In  baptism,  Catholics  promise  to  renounce  the 
devil  and  all  his  works.  Today,  a  Catholic  cannot 
know  if  the  devil  is  behind  the  phenomena  of  Spir- 
itism. It  seems  probable  that  there  is  a  diabolical 
agency  behind  some  of  them  at  least.  Just  how 
much  that  is,  if  it  be  the  devil,  no  one  can  tell. 
When  a  Catholic  without  any  sure  knowledge  of 
what  are  the  causes  of  spiritistic  phenomena,  and 
with  the  probability  that  some  of  them  are  insti- 
gated by  the  devil,  indulges  in  the  practices  of 
Spiritism,  he  breaks  his  promise,  and  plays  traitor 
to  God,  to  his  Faith  and  to  the  Church. 


EPILOGUE 

DURING  the  Spanish- American  War,  a  Span- 
iard in  a  small  South  American  city,  anxious 
to  follow  all  the  details  of  the  struggle,  subscribed 
for  scores  of  newspapers  and  reviews.  Among 
these  publications  was  one  that  published  only 
accounts  that  were  well-verified.  These  accounts, 
necessarily,  were  unfavorable  to  Spanish  hopes, 
listing  as  they  did  the  various  triumphs  of  the 
Americans.  The  Spaniard  was  infuriated.  He 
not  only  dropped  his  subscription  to  the  publica- 
tion, but  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  ruin  it.  At 
the  same  time,  he  did  everything  he  could  do  to 
assist  those  papers  and  reviews  which  fabricated 
news  favorable  to  the  fortunes  of  Spain.  He 
wanted  news,  true  or  false,  well-founded  or  fan- 
ciful, that  would  cater  to  his  own  sentiments.  He 
cared  not  if  it  was  "faked."  But  it  must  be  fa- 
vorable. 

This  Spaniard  reminds  me  often  of  those  at 
present  who  are  eager  to  obtain  information  from 
the  other  side  of  the  grave.  The  Church  of  Christ 
has  told  us  about  the  next  world.     Purgatory  is 

1 68 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  169 

a  place  of  suffering.  Hell  is  infinitely  more  dread- 
ful. And  heaven  is  not  the  state  men  dream  of, 
while  under  the  thraldom  of  worldly  passions  and 
fancies.  It  is  a  joy,  strange  and  distant,  beyond 
the  dim  vision  of  our  earthly  eyes.  But  Spiritism 
reports  otherwise ;  it  offers  to  tell  us  all,  down  to 
the  smallest  details.  It  assures  us  that  there  is  no 
hell.  It  informs  us  of  our  relatives  and  friends 
who  have  gone  before  us.  It  tells  us  of  the  amuse- 
ments there, — very  like  our  own,  only  more  at- 
tractive. It  gives  us  pleasant  news  and  such  as 
appeals  to  our  weak  human  nature.  It  caters  to 
our  inclinations.  It  is  favorable  to  our  present 
desires.  And  for  that  reason,  whether  true  or 
false,  many  subscribe  to  its  tenets,  as  the  Spaniard 
did  to  the  paper  crammed  with  his  favorite  preju- 
dices. Not  the  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
but  the  teaching  of  Spiritism,  say  they,  must  be 
our  guide,  for  our  guide  shall  be  the  teaching  we 
desire.  It  makes  no  difference  to  us  that  the  cre- 
dentials of  Spiritism  are  the  shaking  of  tables  and 
strange  noises,  the  clanging  of  tambourines  and 
the  strumming  of  guitars,  words  spoken  in  a 
dazed  condition  or  in  the  rapture  of  semi-mad- 
ness, ludicrous  ghosts  and  the  scraping  of  ouija. 
It  makes  no  difference  that  most  of  our  demon- 
strations are  fraudulent,  that  the  originators  of 
our  belief  were  confessed  impostors,  that  many 


170  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

of  its  apostles  have  been  caught  in  deceit.  It 
makes  no  difference,  for  Spiritism  tells  us  what 
caters  to  our  weaknesses.  It  tells  us  what  we 
want  to  believe. 

When  St.  John  in  prison  heard  of  the  works  of 
Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to  ask  Him: 
"Art  thou  he  that  art  to  come,  or  look  we  for  an- 
other ?"  And' Jesus,  making  answer,  said  to  them : 
"Go  and  relate  to  John  what  you  have  heard  and 
seen :  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are 
cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  rise  again,  the 
poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them."  (Matt. 
xi  :2-5.)  And  so  do  our  apostles  of  the  New  Rev- 
elation declare  to  those  who  come  to  them:  "Go 
and  tell  others  what  you  have  seen  in  the  seances. 
The  tables  totter,  the  chairs  dance;  and  if  you 
have  not  seen  because  of  the  darkness  of  the  place, 
you  have  heard  the  accordions  and  trumpets  and 
the  strange  raps;  and  you  have  found  that  the 
poor  may  pay  and  receive  spiritgrams  from  the 
spirits  of  their  beloved  dead." 

Christ  walked  out  into  the  open  under  the  sun 
of  Galilee,  followed  by  thousands  who  yearned, 
not  for  wonders,  but  for  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
He  saw  that  the  multitude  was  hungry,  but  there 
were  only  a  few  small  loaves  and  a  few  fishes  at 
hand.  There  was  not  enough  to  feed  them  all. 
And  there  was  not  money  among  them  to  purchase 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  171 

the  needed  supply,  even  if  a  market  were  near. 
So  Christ,  out  in  the  fields,  under  the  bright  noon- 
day sun,  took  the  few  loaves  and  fishes,  and  bless- 
ing them,  commanded  His  disciples  to  distribute 
them  among  the  multitude.  Lo,  the  loaves  and 
fishes  are  multiplied  in  their  hands,  and  eight 
thousand  hungry  followers  are  fed  until  their  hun- 
ger is  satisfied !  There  is  no  hallucination.  They 
have  been  hungry  and  they  are  fed.  And  after 
the  repast  the  remnants  are  gathered  into  baskets. 

This  was  only  one  of  the  countless  miracles  of 
Christ.  Gather  all  the  wonders  of  Spiritism,  all 
its  levitations  and  materializations,  all  its  rap- 
pings  and  obscure  messages.  Compare  them  with 
this  one  miracle  of  the  Saviour !  How  mean,  com- 
monplace, and  ludicrous,  these  so-called  spiritistic 
marvels  appear,  in  comparison! 

It  seems  a  pity  for  anyone  to  institute  this  com- 
parison. The  work  seems  one  of  desecration.  Yet, 
there  are  some  who  would  tell  us — some  Catholics 
even — that  unless  we  admit  the  truth  of  the  so- 
called  phenomena  of  Spiritism,  we  shall  overthrow 
the  foundation  of  Christ's  miracles.  From  such 
a  declaration  one  of  two  things  is  clear:  either 
those  who  say  this  have  never  known  what  a  mir- 
acle is,  or  they  do  not  know  what  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  Spiritism  are.  They  assert  that 
non-Catholics  will  not  admit  the  miracles  of  the 


172  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

Saviour  unless  we  admit  the  miracles  of  Spiritism. 
This  is  not  so.    I  have  spent  many  pages  explain- 
ing that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  ad- 
mission of  a  fact  and  the  admission  of  some  ex- 
planation of  that  fact.     I  shall  not  go  over  the 
subject  now.    Let  those  outside  the  Church  think 
as  they  wish.  .  .  .  They  will  never  understand 
our  Faith  unless  they  have  the  gift  of  Faith,  as 
they  will  never  understand  him  who  speaks  in  an- 
other language  unless  they  first  know  that  lan- 
guage.   We  cannot  forget  that  if  we  believe,  it  is 
because  we  have  the  gift  of  Faith,  a  gift  that 
was  given  to  us  in  Baptism,  and  has  been  con- 
stantly nourished  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
Sacraments.    And  it  is  this  Faith  that  affords  us 
the  beautiful  explanations  of  the  true  Spiritual 
Life,  and  tells  us  of  our  spiritual  relations  with 
the  living  members  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  as  well 
as  with  those  who  died  in  the  state  of  grace.^  We 
have  much  more  than  we  need  to  satisfy  the  most 
anxious  person  about  the  future  life,  and  if  God  in 
His  wisdom  has  not  given  us  more  details  about 
that  life  beyond  the  grave,  it  is  because  we  cannot 
understand  what  "the  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  the 
ear  heard."     (I  Cor.  ii:9.) 

In  our  mortal  lives  we  must  constantly  trust  the 

*The  author  has  in  preparation  another  book  entitled  "True 
Spiritualism"  that  will  appear  soon. 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  173 

authority  and  validity  of  human  faith.  Is  it,  not 
only  convenient,  but  wise  to  trust  Him  who  is  Our 
Father,  Him  who  knows  what  is  beyond  the 
grave,  and  admit  His  testimony  without  seeking 
to  pry  into  what  He,  in  His  Divine  and  Merciful 
Providence,  has  hidden  from  our  eyes?  He  may 
allow  the  souls  of  the  dead  to  appear  to  us  as  suits 
His  wisdom,  as,  we  have  seen.  He  has  done  be- 
fore. For  our  part,  let  us  not  entertain  any  pre- 
sumptuous desire  for  rending  that  veil  which  He 
has  drawn  before  our  vision.  Such  vain  curiosity, 
if  pushed  too  far,  would  be  an  insult  to  His  lov- 
ing Wisdom  and  endanger  that  Faith  which  is 
precious  to  us  beyond  any  earthly  possession.  He 
is  Our  Father.  As  children  we  may  trust  Him. 
Under  His  care  we  shall  not  come  to  ruin. 

If  a  real  communication  between  the  living  and 
the  dead  were  established  there  might  be  some  rea- 
son for  pardoning  our  curiosity.  But  no  such 
method  of  communication  exists.  There  may  be 
some  way  for  the  devil  to  communicate  with  us, 
but  certainly,  there  is  no  way  of  our  conversing 
at  will  with  the  souls  of  the  dead.  The  belief  that 
they  will  come  to  us  at  our  summons,  is  but  the 
last  straw  clutched  at  by  those  who  have  no  belief, 
and  endeavor  to  console  themselves  by  means  as 
outlandish  and  feeble  as  those  practiced  at  a 
seance.    Those  who  have  not  the  Faith  may  per- 


174  SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE 

suade  themselves  that  therein  Hes  their  hope,  as 
the  Hindu,  when  dying,  clutches  at  the  tail  of  the 
Sacred  Cow  that  it  may  draw  him  to  Heaven.  .  .  . 

I,  for  one,  if  I  had  not  the  gift  of  Faith,  would 
be  very  loath  to  place  my  confidence  in  a  creed, 
the  founders  of  which  were  tricksters,  and  the 
apostles  of  which  have  so  associated  their  greed 
with  their  religion,  that  it  often  seems  to  be  an 
inseparable  part  of  it.  I  could  not  bring  myself 
to  aspire  to  a  condition  after  death  in  which  it 
would  be  my  privilege  to  move  furniture,  produce 
raps,  and  engage  in  the  other  unbecoming  and 
somewhat  laughable  activities  of  a  seance.  And 
if  I  did  believe  that  I  could  communicate  with  the 
soul  of  some  loved  one  by  such  means,  I  think  that 
I  would  not.  It  would  seem  a  desecration  of  their 
remains  and  an  act  against  that  eternal  peace  and 
happiness  which  I  wished  them  so  fervently  and 
often. 

For  my  part,  I  want,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul 
to  Timothy,  to  "fly  these  things,  and  pursue  jus- 
tice, piety,  faith,  charity,  patience,  meekness,  and 
fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  laying  hold  of  eter- 
nal life,  whereunto  I  was  called."  This  I  ear- 
nestly desire  so  that,  when  the  great  hour  comes, 
after  I  have  believed  with  all  the  strength  of  my 
intellect,  worked  with  all  the  strength  of  my  will, 
I  may  say:    "I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 


SPIRITISM  AND  COMMON  SENSE  175 

finished  my  course,  /  have  kept  the  Faith.  For 
the  rest,  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  jus- 
tice, which  the  Lord,  the  just  Judge,  will  render 
to  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  only  to  me,  but  to  them 
also,  who  love  His  coming."    (II  Tim.  iv:6-8.) 


APPENDIX  I 

HOW  I  BECAME  A  SPIRIT  MEDIUM 

This  remarkable  confession  of  deception  is  from  "Revelations 
of  a  Spirit  Medium,"  published  in  1891,  author  unknown.  It  is 
said  that  the  plates  for  the  book  were  afterwards  bought  up  and 
destroyed  and  many  hundreds  of  copies  burned  by  persons  who 
did  not  want  the  book  circulated. 

IN  the  year  1871  I  was  a  young  man  of  seven- 
teen years,  and  working  at  my  chosen  occupa- 
tion in  one  of  the  capital  cities  of  the  middle 
States.  I  was  a  materialist  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced type.  I  did  not  believe  anything,  holding 
that  what  was  truth  could  be  demonstrated. 

My  family,  with  the  exception  of  my  father, 
were  converts  to  Spiritualistic  philosophy  and 
phenomena,  and  were  regular  attendants  at  the 
seances  of  the  three  or  four  local  mediums  and  the 
meetings  held  on  Sunday  by  the  organized  society 
of  Spiritualists  of  my  city.  My  family  at  no  time 
obtruded  their  views  upon  me,  nor  said  anything 
in  opposition  to  the  ideas  held  by  myself. 

Not  being  given  to  airing  my  opinions  in  speech 

at  any  and  all  places  and  times,  it  came  about  that 

the  members  of  my  family  had  been  numbered  in 

177 


178  APPENDIX 

the  fold  of  the  Spiritualists  for  perhaps  four 
years  before  my  attention  was  sufficiently  attract- 
ed to  the  subject  to  undertake  an  investigation  of 
its  peculiar  claims.  Knowing  that  the  members 
of  my  family  were  possessed  of  ordinary  intelli- 
gence and  exhibited  average  powers  of  logical  ar- 
gument on  questions  other  than  religious  or  Spir- 
itualistic, I  concluded  that  either  there  was  some 
fire  beneath  the  smoke,  or  there  were  some  clever 
artists  engaged  in  the  business.  From  the  ac- 
counts of  the  phenomena  occurring  with  and  in 
the  presence  of  their  favorite  medium,  given  me 
by  my  married  sister,  a  lady  with  a  liberal  educa- 
tion and  a  cool,  analytical  mind,  I  was  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  those  "kings  of  magic,"  Herr- 
mann and  Hellar,  still  had  a  few  things  to  learn. 

The  first  seance  that  I  attended  was  one  given 
in  my  native  city  by  a  man  reputed  so  wonderful 
that  I  found  it  impossible  not  to  go  just  once,  any- 
way. That  first  seance  changed  the  whole  course 
of  my  then  honorable  life  and  led  to  a  professional 
career  of  deception  and  adventure. 

Had  I  never  come  in  contact  with  other  than 
finished,  professional  mediums,  the  chances  are 
that  I  would  not  have  become  an  adventurer.  It 
finally  struck  me  that,  in  order  to  make  certain  of 
the  truth  of  the  matter,  it  would  be  the  proper 
thing  to  sit  for  the  development  of  a  "medium- 


APPENDIX  179 

ship"  of  my  own.  I  would  use  every  endeavor  to 
obtain  some  mediumistic  gift,  and  if  I  succeeded, 
that  would  finally  and  indisputably  settle  the  mat- 
ter. If  I  did  not  succeed  I  would,  of  course,  have 
the  same  uncertainty  about  it  as  before  I  at- 
tempted my  development.  It  would  cost  nothing 
but  a  small  portion  of  my  time,  and  even  if  it  was 
a  failure  there  would  be  no  loss. 

Accordingly,  after  asking  several  mediums  for 
the  proper  instructions  until  they  were  obtained, 
and  I  had  been  assured  that  if  they  were  carefully 
observed  there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  failure, 
a  cabinet  was  erected  at  my  home  and  the  attempt 
at  development  begun. 

I  began  my  "development"  sittings  in  as  hand- 
some a  cabinet,  and  with  as  good  instruments  as 
the  purses  of  my  friends,  who  would  not  allow 
me  to  go  to  any  expense,  would  permit.  Those 
who  sat  outside  were  spiritualists,  six  of  them; 
all  interested  in  seeing  the  prospective  medium  de- 
veloped to  the  fullness  of  his  capabilities,  what- 
ever they  might  be.  They  were  friends  of  my 
family  and  I  found  the  development  business  quite 
pleasant. 

The  sittings  were  kept  up  for  the  three  months 
named  as  the  time  that  the  manifestations  would 
begin,  but  none  had  put  in  appearance,  neither  had 
I  experienced  anything  that  led  me  to  believe  that 


i8o  APPENDIX 

any  progress  had  been  made.  I  was  abjured  to  be 
patient  by  the  "sitters,"  who  told  me  that  it  was 
an  easy  thing  for  the  spirits  to  be  mistaken  as  to 
the  length  of  time  required  to  bring  about  results, 
but  that  they  were  probably  not  far  wrong,  and 
possibly  the  next  sitting  would  see  the  first  of  the 
manifestations. 

Thus  encouraged,  I  continued  the  sittings  for 
six  months.  Nothing  occurred,  except  a  healthy 
desire  on  the  part  of  both  medium  and  sitters  that 
the  manifestations  be  forthcoming,  giving  me  an 
inclination  to  cause  some  phenomena  on  my  own 
hook.  The  more  I  thought  about  it  the  stronger 
became  the  desire  to  practice  a  little  deception  on 
,my  friends,  then,  after  telling  them  about  it,  drop 
the  matter  entirely.  After  turning  it  over  in  my 
mind  for  some  time,  I  concluded  I  would  see  what 
effect  a  few  spurious  manifestations  would  have 
upon  my  friends.  It  would  be  easy,  they  having 
unbounded  confidence  in  me.  My  mind  made  up  to 
do  it,  I  hardly  knew  what  to  try,  and  finally  con- 
cluded I  would  wait  until  the  sitting  came  around 
and,  after  getting  into  the  cabinet,  see  what  sug- 
gested itself. 

This  was  the  course  I  pursued,  and  on  one  Sat- 
urday evening,  after  the  first  song  had  been  sung, 
the  sitters  were  delighted  to  hear  sharp  raps, 
seemingly  on  the  walls  of  the  room,  within  the 


APPENDIX  i8i 

cabinet.  Of  course,  I  had  to  be  happily  surprised, 
or  appear  so,  which  I  did,  and  my  first  act  of  de- 
ceit was  done.  I  was  forced  to  deny  the  author- 
ship of  the  raps  also,  and  the  first  lie  had  been 
given  birth.  The  sitters  endeavored  to  get  replies 
to  questions,  but  they  did  not  succeed,  for  I  did 
not  care  to  go  to  that  length  with  my  deception 
and,  besides,  did  not  know  what  answers  to  make 
to  the  inquiries.  Nothing  occurred  but  the  raps, 
although  every  ear  and  eye  was  alert  to  catch 
anything  that  might  transpire.  The  sitters  also 
displayed  a  tendency  to  connect  any  noise  occur- 
ring to  spiritual  agency.  Noting  this,  I  could  not 
help  reflecting  with  what  ease  one  could  deceive 
them.  It  also  gave  me  an  idea  that  the  average 
medium  had  pretty  smooth  sailing  when  he  had 
none  but  spiritualists  in  his  circle.  If  he  could 
not  readily  offer  an  explanation  for  anything  oc- 
curring, some  one  of  the  sitters  would  do  it  for 
him,  thus  educating  him  in  the  business. 

When  nine  o'clock  had  struck  and  I  came  from 
the  cabinet,  you  may  rest  assured  I  felt  strange. 
I  was  sure  that  every  time  one  of  the  sitters  looked 
upon  my  face  they  not  only  knew  that  I  had  made 
the  raps,  but  had  lied  about  it  afterwards.  A 
dozen  times  I  was  on  the  point  of  peaching  on  my- 
self, but  as  many  times  did  a  sense  of  shame  over- 
come my  resolution  and  I  told  myself  that  I  would 


i82  APPENDIX 

tell  them  one  at  a  time,  as  I  met  them,  laugh  it 
down  and  dismiss  any  further  sittings. 

The  sitters  were  so  delighted,  and  offered  so 
many  unselfish  congratulations  and  encourage- 
ments, shaking  my  hand  and  patting  me  on  the 
back,  it  is  no  wonder  that  I  felt  my  smallness.  One 
of  the  ladies  remarked: 

"There!  I  am  sure  none  of  us  need  ever  have 
any   doubts    regarding    physical    manifestations 

after  this.    I  am  sure  Mr. would  be  guilty 

of  no  act  of  deceit." 

Think  of  it,  reader.  A  respected  lady  friend 
offering  such  an  expression  of  perfect  confidence 
in  me  regarding  the  very  thing  in  which  I  had 
just  been  deceiving  her !  Would  you  have  felt  per- 
fectly at  ease  in  my  place  ?    I  think  not. 

I  was  glad  when  the  sitters  had  departed,  and 
thought  long  and  deeply  on  my  deception,  and 
concluded  not  to  say  a  word  to  any  of  them  about 
it,  but  just  shut  down  on  any  more  seances.  My 
wits  were  at  work  the  entire  time  that  elapsed  be- 
tween the  regular  sitting  nights  trying  to  concoct 
some  plausible  reason  why  I  discontinued  the  de- 
velopment course. 

The  evening  came,  however,  and  no  excuse  that 
I  could  offer  without  exciting  the  suspicion  that 
the  manifestations  of  the  previous  sittings  were  a 
fraud,  had  been  formulated.     After  the  sitting 


APPENDIX  183 

had  gotten  under  way,  the  requests  by  the  sitters 
for  phenomena  were  so  frequent  and  entreating 
that  my  conscience  smote  me  again  and  again  for 
my  previous  deception.  However,  I  soon  found 
myself  rapping  again.  This  time  I  essayed  an- 
swers to  the  questions  regarding  the  progress 
made  in  the  medium's  development,  rapping  an 
affirmative  answer  to  the  questions,  "Is  the  devel- 
opment proceeding  satisfactorily,  and  will  he  de- 
velop good  physical  powers?" 

Nothing  but  raps  occurred  at  this  sitting,  and 
the  sitters  were  much  pleased  that  the  raps  had 
been  made  to  answer  their  questions.  This  was 
looked  upon  as  a  decided  improvement  over  the 
preceding  sitting.  I  was  not  so  much  abashed 
at  their  compliments  and  encouragements  as  on 
the  previous  occasion,  and  during  the  following 
week  I  actually  found  myself  wondering  what  new 
thing  I  could  do  that  would  create  more  interest 
and  enthusiasm  than  the  raps.  The  only  thing 
I  could  think  of  was  to  produce  "spirit  lights." 
This  I  tried  with  match-heads.  It  was  successful 
and  the  sitters  were  delighted. 

The  lights  and  raps  were  all  that  were  produced 
for  some  dozen  or  more  sittings,  for  the  reason 
that  I  could  think  of  nothing  more  wonderful. 
One  evening  I  went  to  sleep  in  my  cabinet,  and 
upon  waking  found  that  I  was  supposed  by  the 


i84  APPENDIX 

sitters  to  be  entranced.  It  struck  me  as  the  proper 
thing  to  allow  them  to  remain  undeceived,  which  I 
did.  The  sitters  took  this  for  a  sign  that  some 
new  phenomena  was  about  to  occur.  It  did  not, 
however,  until  one  evening  I  found  about  twenty 
feet  of  rope  that  had  been  concealed  in  the  cabi- 
net without  my  knowledge.  I  found  it  nicely 
coiled  and  tied  with  thread  to  the  underside  of 
the  cane  chair  seat  in  which  I  sat.  I  had  no 
knowledge  of  rope  tying  feats,  but  undertook  to 
bind  myself  with  the  ropes,  and  this  I  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  doing.  I  then  essayed  my  first  speaking 
under  control  by  exclaiming,  ''Look,  look,  look," 
until  the  sitters  understood  that  the  spirits  wanted 
them  to  examine  the  medium's  condition. 

The  sitters  were  delighted  beyond  measure  at 
finding  me  apparently  so  securely  bound.  The 
light  was  so  dim  that  it  was  impossible  to  detect 
anything  wrong  with  the  knots  or  manner  of  ty- 
ing. I  was  fearful,  though,  all  through  the  ex- 
amination that  some  of  them  would  discover  my 
deception,  and  only  breathed  freely  w^hen  the  ex- 
amination had  been  completed  and  I  was  admitted 
to  be  "most  securely  bound,  and  in  a  way  that  it 
was  impossible  to  have  accomplished  himself." 

I  realized,  however,  that  the  absolute  confidence 
of  the  sitters  in  my  honesty  had  as  much  to  do 
with  the  successful  termination  of  my  rope  tying 


APPENDIX  185 

test  as  anything  else,  and  that  with  a  "circle"  of 
skeptics,  it  would  have  been  an  entirely  different 
matter. 

Little  did  I  think  at  this  time  that  at  one  day 
in  the  future  I  would  have  the  reputation,  deserv- 
edly too,  of  being  the  best  and  most  satisfactory 
phenomenal  medium  in  the  United  States.  Little 
did  I  suspect  that  I  would  be  able  not  only  to  du- 
plicate the  performances  of  the  most  skilled  medi- 
ums, but  improve  them  and  be  the  means  of  con- 
verting hundreds  to  a  belief  in  the  phenomena  of 
modern  spiritualism.  Such,  however,  are  the 
facts  in  the  case* 


APPENDIX  II 


EVA   C. 


WE  have  purposely  avoided,  in  our  present 
work,  a  discussion  of  the  true  value  of  the 
manifestations  of  the  great  mediums.  Our  work 
is,  rather,  a  psychological  study  than  a  criticism  of 
the  true  value  of  the  proofs  adduced  by  different 
writers  as  "Spiritistic  Phenomena."  But  the 
''materializing  medium"  Eva  C.  has  acquired  such 
great  notoriety  through  the  voluminous  book  of 
Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing,  "Phenomena  of 
Materialization,"  that  our  work  would  seem  in- 
complete if  we  did  not  say  a  word  about  her.  We 
prefer  to  quote  verbatim  the  authorized  opinions 
of  other  writers,  rather  than  to  express  our  own : 


if 


'There  has  just  been  issued  an  English 
translation  by  Mr.  Fournier  d'Albe,  of  the  Ger- 
man work  of  Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing, 
Materialisations-Phanomcne  (1914),  which 
contains  between  two  and  three  hundred  excel- 
lent photographs  of  materialisations  with  this 
medium. 

186 


APPENDIX  187 

Mile.  Beraud  is  the  daug-hter  of  a  French 
ofBcer.  In  1903  she  lived  with  the  family  of 
General  Noel  in  Alg-iers,  and  was  engaged  to 
the  General's  son.  The  son  died,  and  Marthe 
consoled  the  mother  by  discovering  mediumis- 
tic  powers.  In  1905  Professor  Richet  was  in- 
vited to  study  her  materialisations,  and  he  en- 
dorsed them.  The  "Annals  of  Psychic  Science" 
then,  in  1905  and  1906,  drew  the  attention  of 
the  world  to  her  wonderful  gifts,  but  in  the 
meantime  an  Algiers  lawyer,  M.  Marsault,  had 
fully  exposed  the  trickery  that  was  employed 
and  had  wrung  a  confession  from  Marthe  her- 
self. His  report  may  be  read  in  an  article 
which  appeared  in  the  "Proceedings  of  the  S. 
P.  R."  in  July,  19 14.  Professor  Richet  and  the 
Spiritualists  evaded  the  force  of  this  exposure, 
but  Marthe  Beraud  left  Algiers  and  began  to 
work  in  Paris.  There  a  fairly  wealthy  woman, 
Mme.  Bisson,  adopted  her;  and  it  is  in  Mme. 
Bisson's  house  that  most  of  the  sittings  de- 
scribed in  Schrenck-Notzing's  book  occurred. 
In  her  earlier  phase,  she  had  been  known  as 
"Marthe  B."  Mme.  Bisson  christened  her 
"Rose  Dupont."  Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing 
gives  her  the  name  of  "Eva  C."  As  he  gives 
in  the  introduction  to  his  book  a  very  frank 
account  of  her  character,  perhaps  he  is  justi- 
fied ;  but  it  is  acknowledged,  though  it  was  long 
suppressed,  that  she  is  the  Marthe  Beraud  of 
the  "Villa  Carmen  Phenomena"  in  Algiers. 

When  Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing's  book 


i88  APPENDIX 

appeared  in  1914,  and  Mme.  Bisson  brought 
out  in  French  a  much  shorter  and  more  discreet 
version,  a  German  lady-doctor,  Mathilde  von 
Kemnitz,  pubHshed  a  drastic  and  annihilating- 
criticism  of  it  (Moderne  Mediumforschung, 
1914).  I  need  not  repeat  the  criticisms  here, 
but  the  reader  will  quite  fail  to  understand 
modern  Spiritualism  unless  certain  details  of  a 
rather  delicate  character  are  given.  .  .  . 

Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing  claims  to  have 
carried  these  precautions  to  the  most  rigorous 
conceivable  point.  Marthe  was  stripped  before 
each  sitting  by  Mme.  Bisson,  and  sewn  into  the 
tight-fitting  garments.  ...  In  any  case,  it  is 
certain,  and  is  admitted  by  the  Baron,  that,  in 
spite  of  all  his  search,  she  smuggled  articles 
into  the  cabinet.  In  some  photos  he  admits 
that  Marthe  is  the  ghost,  with  fine  drapery 
about  her.  In  most  of  the  others  the  ghost  is 
quite  obviously  a  paper-picture,  pinned  on  the 
curtains.  There  is  a  strong  reason  to  believe 
that  she  swallowed  her  material  in  advance,  and 
was  able  to  bring  it  up  from  her  stomach. 
Many  such  cases  are  known  in  science. 

Here  the  reader  has  the  last  word  in  medi- 
umship  of  the  physical  type.  The  medium  is 
pitted  against  men  of  science,  and  wins.  At 
least  Marthe  Beraud  is  considered  by  Spiritual- 
ists, and  by  some  men  of  the  scientific  psychic 
school,  to  have  won.  She  has  recently  been 
in  London,  and  the  leading  London  Spiritual- 
ists greeted  her  with  admiring  enthusiasm." 


APPENDIX  189 

(For  further  details,  see:  "Spiritualism, 
A  Popular  History  from  1847,"  by  Joseph  Mc- 
Cabe.    Dodd  Mead  &  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1920.) 

We  take  the  following  account  from  the  "Fort- 
nightly Review,"  July  18,  1920: 

"Spiritism  and  the  Scientists. 

Messrs.  Kegan  Paul,  we  see  from  the  Lon- 
don Times  Literary  Supplement,  have  in  press 
an  English  translation  of  Baron  Dr.  von 
Schrenck-Notzing's  sensational  work,  Materi- 
alisations-Phanomene :  ein  Beitrag  zur  Erfor- 
schiing  der  mediumistischen  Teleplastik  (Mu- 
nich, Ernst  Reinhardt,  1914),  which  has  been 
on  our  table  for  several  months  and  has  puzzled 
us  not  a  little.  The  book  embodies  the  results 
of  certain  scientific  experiments  carried  out  by 
the  author,  who  is  a  practicing  physician  and  a 
scientist  of  considerable  renown,  assisted  by 
other  physicians  and  scientists,  with  two  medi- 
ums— the  one  a  French  woman  and  the  other  a 
Polish  girl,  partly  in  Paris  and  partly  at  Mu- 
nich, shortly  before  the  war.  There  are  numer- 
ous photographs  showing  "teleplastic  struc- 
tures" in  various  stages  of  development.  The 
English  translation  is  by  Dr.  E.  E.  Fournier 
d'Albe  and  will  be  published  under  the  title, 
"The  Phenomena  of  Materialization :  A  Contri- 
bution to  the  Investigation  of  Mediumistic  Phe- 
nomena." 

Dr.  von  Schrenck-Notzing  is  the  first  scien- 
tist who  has  undertaken  to  ascertain  whether 


I90  APPENDIX 

the  ''ghosts"  that  materialize  at  Spiritistic  se- 
ances actually  exist  and  of  what  substance  they 
are  made. 

The  first  and  main  series  of  experiments 
were  made  with  a  French  girl,  "Eva  C,"  whom 
Dr.  von  Schrenck-Notzing  describes  as  having 
moral  sentiments  "only  in  the  egocentric  sense," 
as  not  a  virgin,  and  as  having  "a  very  erotic 
imagination,"  She  had  interested  M.  Bisson,  a 
well-known  French  writer  of  some  reputation, 
and  especially  his  wife,  Mme.  Bisson,  in  her 
performances.  Mme.  Bisson  became  Eva's  pa- 
troness and  attended  most  of  the  seances.  Dr. 
von  Schrenck-Notzing  took  the  phenomena  very 
seriously,  devised  most  of  the  rigorous  control 
of  the  medium,  raised  the  lights  to  a  high  pitch 
of  illumination,  fired  five  cameras  at  a  time  at 
the  "ghost,"  and  even  installed  a  cinemato- 
graph. The  young  woman  was  stripped  before 
every  performance  and  sewn  into  something 
like  "tights"  of  black  cloth.  Her  mouth,  nos- 
trils, ears  and  armpits  were  carefully  examined. 
There  was  a  superficial  examination  also  of  the 
lower  part  of  her  body.  After  three  years  of 
research  under  these  rigorous  conditions,  Dr. 
von  Schrenck-Notzing  published  the  results  in 
his  above-mentioned  book.  He  was  convinced 
that  the  phenomena  were  real,  but  oflFered  no 
explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
produced.  He  disdains  Spiritism  and  claims 
only  a  mysterious  teleplastic  power  on  the  part 
of  the  medium.    The  special  value  of  his  book 


APPENDIX  191 

lies  in  the  150  photographs  of  "materializa- 
tions" which  it  contains.  You  see  the  "ecto- 
plasm," as  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  calls  it, 
pouring  from  the  medium's  nose,  eyes,  ears  and 
skin.  You  see  spirit  hands  reaching  out  and 
mysterious  faces  and  figures  hovering  in  the 
air,  etc. 

Quite  naturally,  the  book  has  given  rise  to  a 
lively  controversy,  which  will  now  be  trans- 
planted to  English-speaking  countries.  It  is 
asserted  (see,  e.g.  Mr.  Joseph  McCabe's  paper, 
"Scientific  Men  and  Spiritualism:  a  Skeptic's 
Analysis"  in  the  English  Review,  reproduced 
in  the  Living  Age,  of  Boston,  No.  3962,  pp.  652 
sqq.),  that  Eva  C.  is  identical  with  Marthe  Be- 
raud,  who  was  unmasked  by  Prof.  Richet  in 
1905  and  1906  in  the  famous  "Villa  Carmen 
manifestations,"  and  who  confessed  to  M.  Mar- 
sault  that  "it  was  all  humbug."  The  "ecto- 
plasm" is  said  to  be  bits  of  chififon  or  muslin, 
white  gloves,  possibly  inflated  fish  bladders,  and 
other  compressible  and  expansible  articles 
hanging  from  the  medium's  mouth  or  fastened 
to  her  hair,  clothing,  or  breasts,  or  to  the  cur- 
tain behind  which  she  sits.  The  trance  (Eva 
was  hypnotized  before  every  session)  is  said  to 
be  a  sham.  Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that 
whenever  a  real  "ghost"  is  visible,  Eva's  hands 
or  feet  are  not  to  be  seen.  When  human  forms 
appeared,  the  curtain  was  kept  closed  until  the 
girl  was  ready,  music  was  supplied  at  her  re- 
quest (to  drown  the  noise  of  her  movements), 


192  APPENDIX 

and  she  had  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  so  to  ar- 
range the  marvelous  "peep-show."  The  faces 
appearing  on  the  photographs  are  explained 
as  illustrations  cut  out  of  the  French  papers; 
they  are  very  crude  and  resemble  flat  paper  sur- 
faces. Baron  von  Schrenck-Notzing  admits 
that  on  several  occasions  Eva  deceptively  smug- 
gled pins  into  the  cabinet  in  spite  of  his  rigid 
control.  Critics  of  his  book  point  out  that  one 
or  two  of  the  photographs  plainly  show  the 
marks  of  pins  and  that  on  one,  which  was  taken 
prematurely,  Eva  is  dangling  the  "ghost"  on 
the  end  of  a  string.  Another  doctor  pointed 
out  that  there  are  human  "ruminants"  who  can 
lower  things  into  their  gullet  or  stomach  and 
bring  them  up  at  will,  and  he  remembered  that 
Eva  occasionally  bled  from  the  mouth  or  gullet 
after  a  sitting.  For  seven  sittings  (four  of 
which  were  quite  barren),  a  net  was  put  over 
her  head,  but  she  stipulated  that  her  dress  be 
left  open  when  the  net  was  on,  and  very  soon 
forced  them  to  lay  it  aside. 

In  short,  says  Mr.  McCabe,  "although  Baron 
Schrenck,  Professor  Richet,  Doctor  Geley,  and 
other  scientific  and  medical  men  cling  to  the 
"abnormal"  theory,  the  whole  three  years'  in- 
vestigation really  turned  into  a  farce.  It  was 
admitted  that  'Eva  C  was  Marthe  Beraud; 
and  it  is  clear  that  she  concealed  her  light  and 
compressible  material  about  her  body."  He  adds 
that  it  has  not  yet  been  demonstrated  that  some 
women  mediums  may  not  develop  an  abnormal 


APPENDIX  193 

secretion  of  mucus  and  blow  or  trail  it  from  the 
mouth,  making  it  assume  fantastic  appearances 
in  the  red  light." 

For  Americans,  the  authority  of  Mr.  Houdini, 
the  great  magician,  cannot  be  denied  as  he  is  a 
master  in  the  ''art  of  deception."  On  Wednes- 
day, July  5,  1922,  he  writes,  to  the  Editor  of  the 
"New  York  Times" : 

"To  the  Editor  of  the  New  York  Times: 

Have  read  the  letter  of  H.  Edwards-Ficken 
and  believe  it  calls  for  an  explanation  on  my 
part.  I  did  not  expose  Mile.  Eva,  the  protegee 
of  Mme.  Bisson,  and  had  given  my  promise  not 
to  do  so  to  the  Hon.  Everard  Fielding  during 
the  eight  seances  at  the  rooms  of  the  Psychic 
Research  Committee  in  London,  at  which  I  was 
his  guest. 

I  gave  him  my  word  that  nothing  would  be 
published  by  me  until  after  the  Psychic  Re- 
search Committee  had  published  its  proceed- 
ings regarding  its  seances.  They  were  pub- 
lished about  a  month  ago,  which  released  me 
from  my  promise,  and  I  can  now  give  my  views 
publicly.  I  feel  that  it  is  necessary  to  explain 
that  I  did  not  expose  Mile.  Eva  in  London. 

In  the  majority  of  these  seances  I  was  one  of 
the  committee  to  examine  and  hold  Mile.  Eva  in 
the  cabinet.  Each  seance  lasted  three  hours,  so 
I  had  ample  opportunity  'in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  which  were  spread  over  a  period  of  at 


194  APPENDIX 

least  one  month,  to  carefully  note  what  the  me- 
dium was  trying  to  do. 

She  positively  did  not  do  anything  that  would 
cause  me  to  believe  she  was  doing  something 
which  was  not  produced  by  natural  means. 

Have  made  minute  detailed  notes  of  the  hun- 
dred seances  which  I  attended  and  participated 
in  on  my  last  trip  abroad,  and  although  those 
present  saw  and  heard  extraordinary  things,  I 
was  not  convinced. 

Am  afraid  that  the  greater  part  of  the  things 
we  read  about  in  full-page  articles  are  very 
much  like  Sabonee's  materialization,  which  is 
now  being  so  vigorously  denied.  At  the  time 
it  appeared  I  knew  it  was  not  possible,  and  hav- 
ing gone  carefully  through  Schrenck-Notz- 
ing's  book,  all  I  can  say  is  that  to  my  belief 
it  could  not  have  happened  in  the  minds  of  some 
who  were  there,  or  their  confidences  have  been 
betrayed*" 


APPENDIX  III 

ECTOPLASM 

TO  the  ordinary  reader  who  is  unacquainted 
with  the  voluminous  work  of  Baron  von 
Schrenck-Notzing,  "our  pictures"  published  in 
this  book,  would  be  difficult  to  understand,  as  some 
are  but  "an  actual  reproduction  made  by  us"  of  the 
notorious  materializations  of  his  protegee,  Eva  C. 
The  reader,  therefore,  is  entitled  to  some  explana- 
tion. 

In  the  frontispiece  the  author  is  shown  having 
in  his  right  hand  "a  false  finger,"  a  comb  in  his 
left,  and  on  the  table  an  innocent-looking  hand- 
kerchief, all  "tools"  of  the  trade.  That  Eva  C. 
used  "two  combs"  can  be  easily  seen  in  Baron  von 
Schrenck-Notzing's  book,  from  which  we  are 
quoting  (published  in  London  and  New  York  by 
E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  1920),  p.  91,  fig.  29.  On 
pages  128-133  can  easily  be  seen  one  of  the  big 
combs,  figs.  52,  4,  5,  and  6.  That  she  uses  "a  hol- 
low finger"  may  be  seen  in  figs.  147,  148,  152,  153, 
154.  That  she  uses  handkerchiefs  can  be  easily 
seen  in  several  places.    I  mention  only  Fig.  109, 

19s 


196  APPENDIX 

where  she  was  caught  by  the  camera  holding  the 
"spook  with  her  right  hand,  while  to  confuse  in 
the  dark  the  observations  of  von  Notzing,  she  put 
a  piece  of  cloth  on  her  right  knee,  simulating  her 
right  hand. 

If  we  look  at  the  picture  facing  page  io8, 
we  shall  see  nearly  three  feet  of  "ectoplasm" 
(gauze)  drawn  from  the  cross  bar  of  one  comb 
where  it  had  been  ingeniously  concealed  by  the 
author.  The  comb  is  an  ordinary  article,  not  es- 
pecially made  for  this  "psychic"  purpose.  On  the 
same  picture  the  "finger"  shows  in  exactly  the 
same  position  as  in  Figs.  147  and  148  of  Dr.  von 
Notzing's  book.  Of  course,  the  "ectoplasm"  (or 
gauze)  hanging  to  it  was  stowed  away  "inside 
of  the  finger,  that  was  itself,  easily  concealed"; 
the  rest  of  the  "ectoplasm"  (gauze)  on  the  table 
was  concealed  in  the  handkerchief. 

In  another  picture  we  see  how  the  "ectoplasm" 
(gauze)  and  a  picture  concealed  "inside  of  the  fin- 
ger" is  used  by  the  author  to  "produce"  (fake) 
the  materialization  of  a  spook,  precisely  in  the 
same  way  Eva  C.  does  for  the  edification  of  Dr. 
von  Notzing  and  his  friends.      (Facing  page  24.) 

But  there  is  something  very  "striking"  and  re- 
markable in  von  Notzing's  book  that  gives  us  an- 
other example  of  the  truth  of  P.  T.  Barnum's 
famous  saying.     I  refer  the  scientific  reader  to 


APPENDIX  197 

page  209,  Fig.  119,  and  page  212  of  the  same 
deeply  scientific  book.  In  Fig.  118,  besides  the 
"ectoplasm  (?!)"  protruding  from  her  nose,  we 
see  around  Eva  C.'s  head  a  kind  of  "halo" — a  pa- 
per halo — on  which  we  can  read  three  printed  lines 
of  the  newspaper  from  which  the  "ectoplasm"  (?) 
was  taken.  But  there  is  still  more.  In  Fig.  1 19 
we  find  out  from  what  newspaper  Eva  C.  cut  the 
"ectoplasm"  (  ?).  We  clearly  read,  printed  on  the 
ectoplasm,  these  letters :  "MIROI"  (Miroir).  Let 
us  quote  von  Notzing's  own  words  on  this  won- 
derful phenomenon.    He  says,  page  213: 

"Of  much  greater  interest  is  the  result  of  the 
photograph  taken  with  the  camera  inside  the 
cabinet  (fig.  119).  Here  the  flat  object  which 
projects  behind  the  medium's  head  towards  the 
back,  appears  with  four  distinct  parallel  creases, 
which  are  also  shown  in  the  stereoscopic  photo- 
graph. There  is  a  narrow  horizontal  strip,  also 
interrupted  by  creases,  on  which  we  can  recog- 
nize the  words  1e'  (small  type)  'Miro'  (large 
type).  That  is  evidently  meant  to  be  'Le 
MIROIR."  We  can  just  recognize  the  top  of 
an  T'  following  the  'O,'  but  the  next  word  'R' 
is  covered.  I  CANNOT  FORM  ANY  OPIN- 
ION OF  THIS  CURIOUS  RESULT."  (Cap- 
itals mine.) 

After  reading  this,  we  need  not  wonder  as  to 
what  Mr.  J.  McCabe  of  England  said  in  the  de- 


198  APPENDIX 

bate  on  Spiritualism  between  Sir  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle  (who  is  a  great  believer  in  von  Schrenck- 
Notzing  and  Eva  C.)  and  himself,  page  48: 

"Now,  even  in  Germany  and  Austria,  Baron 
von  Schrenck-Notzing  is  the  laughing-stock  of 
his  medical  colleagues." 

Nevertheless,  there  are  many  writers  and  lectur- 
ers who  quote  von  Notzing  "as  an  authority."  We 
do  not  affirm  or  deny  the  existence  of  "ectoplasm." 
We  simply  affirm  that  Dr.  von  Notzing's  book 
does  not  prove  anything  except  as  it  is  further 
confirmation  that  Barnum  was  right  when  he 
said:    "There  is  ONE  born  every  minute," 


APPENDIX  IV 

SPIRIT   PHOTOGRAPHS 

SPIRIT  photography  is  one  of  the  great 
"proofs"  (?)  of  the  reality  of  our  communi- 
cations with  the  "discarnate  souls."  So  mediums 
— scientific  mediums  especially — are  producing 
the  most  wonderful  (?)  spirit-photographs.  Sir 
Arthur  Conan  Doyle  not  long  ago  published  the 
pictures  of  "Fairies"  taken  in  England  and  he 
contends  that  they  are  authentic  (  ?!).  We  print 
only  three  of  our  spirit-photographs  (fake,  of 
course),  taken  under  "test  conditions,"  one  in 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  the  second  in  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  and  the  last  in  New  York 
City.^ 

There  were  three  different  first-class  photogra- 
phers, who  used  their  own  plates  and  handled 
them  all  the  time,  in  spite  of  which  the  large 
"ghostly  hand  of  a  spook"  appeared  vaguely  in 
one  when  the  plate  was  developed.  In  the  next 
the  face  of  the  spook  was  clearly  seen,  surrounded 
by  a  cyclonic  cloud  of  "ectoplasm"    (?),  and, 

*See  photographs  facing  pp.  54,  72  and  128. 

199 


200  APPENDIX 

finally,  although  the  audience  "could  not  see"  the 
large  arm  and  hand  of  the  "astral  body"  of  the 
author,  who  was  "moving  furniture,"  making 
"chairs  dance"  and  "lifting  tables,"  when  the  pho- 
tographs were  developed,  the  "astral  arm  and 
hand  of  the  author's  astral  body"  (?)  appeared 
very  clearly,  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  Of 
course  all  of  it  was  fake,  but  the  method  used  by 
the  author  is  an  "entirely  new  one,"  as  he  does 
not  use  double  exposure  but  a  very  simple  device 
of  his  own  invention  to  impress  the  plates,  "not 
handling  them  at  alL" 


APPENDIX  V 

LEVITATION 

THE  "levitation"  of  a  human  body  by  "the 
hands  of  the  spooks"  was  one  of  the  famous 
stunts  or  phenomena  performed  by  the  famous 
medium,  D.  D.  Home. 

The  author  has  ''reproduced"  this  phenomenon 
in  his  lectures,  "under  test  conditions." 

We  reprint  here  the  account  given  by  the 
"Springfield  Republican"  of  the  lecture  during 
which  levitation  of  the  human  body  was  demon- 
strated. Facing  page  202  is  an  authentic 
photograph  of  the  "stunt"  as  accomplished  in 
Springfield. 

Rev.  C.  M.  de  Heredia,  S.J.,  of  Holy  Cross 
college,  treated  a  packed  audience  of  Springfield 
people  to  a  demonstration  of  "spiritism"  which 
might  well  vie  with  the  best  efforts  of  the  most 
distinguished  professional  mediums,  last  night 
in  the  hall  of  the  technical  high  school.  He  re- 
created practically  all  of  the  illusions  of  me- 
diumism,  including  table  tipping,  levitations, 
and  apparitions,  so  effectively  that  the  audience 
was  completely  baffled.  Regard  for  "respectable 

201 


202  APPENDIX 

professional  ma^cians"  restrained  him  from 
revealing  how  the  things  were  done,  but  the 
people  went  away  laughing  at  spiritism.  Father 
de  Heredia  admitted  it  was  all  trickery. 

Desire  to  Expose  Frauds 

Motivating  Father  de  Heredia's  extraordi- 
nary performance  was  the  desire  to  expose  the 
frauds  which  he  claimed  are  being  perpetrated 
upon  the  public  in  the  name  of  communion  with 
departed  souls.  He  admitted  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  psychic  phenomena  but  argued  that 
it  is  quite  another  thing  for  a  so-called  medium, 
working  for  a  consideration,  to  say  arbitrarily 
that  "this  thing  I  show  you  is  psychic  phe- 
nomena" and  to  claim  that  the  agency  thereof  is 
a  departed  soul. 

"We  Catholics,"  the  father  said,  "have  faith 
in  immortality,  in  life  after  death.  We  believe 
that  we  will  see  our  relatives  again,  but  for  the 
sake  of  decency  and  love  we  don't  want  to  call 
our  mothers  back  to  the  'shimmy  table.'  "  The 
latter  was  the  lecturer's  picturesque  reference 
to  the  syncopated  tipping  of  a  table  which 
formed  part  of  his  demonstration. 

Need  a  Dark  Place 

Prefacing  his  demonstrations  with  the  re- 
mark that  mediums  need  "a  dark  place  in  which 
to  work"  Father  Heredia  caused  the  lis:hts  to  be 
extinguished  and  proceeded  to  reproduce  his 
"astral  body"  or  "nimbo,"  which  appeared  to  be 


SPIRIT     l.KVITATHlX, 


photographed   under 
springfield,  mass. 

(see  appendix  v) 


TEST    COXniTlllXS       IN 


APPENDIX  203 

a  small  phosphorescent  glow  against  the  solid 
black  of  the  stage  drop.  He  emerged  from 
this  experiment  in  a  carefully  simulated  state 
of  exhaustion,  announcing  that  such  an  impor- 
tant detachment  from  one's  body  was  liable  to 
cause  the  best  mediums  some  suffering.  The 
next  important  illusion  was  a  communication 
with  the  son  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  by  way  of  the 
table  rapping  route.  After  he  had  established 
relations  with  Raymond  Lodge  by  means  of  a 
"controler,"  named  Moonshine,  on  the  ''other 
side,"  he  announced  that  he  would  have  the 
same  conversation  with  the  young  man  which 
his  father  records  in  his  book.  The  answers 
to  Father  de  Heredia's  questions  were  given  by 
means  of  raps: — 

"Hello,  Raymond,  are  you  there?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  they  have  houses  there?" 

"Yes." 

"Cigars?" 

"Yes." 

"And  whisky?" 

"Yes." 

"Shimmy"  Not  Unknown 

Inasmuch  as  A.  Conan  Doyle  says  there  are 
reference  libraries  in  the  land  of  the  departed, 
Father  de  Heredia  argued,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  "shimmy"  is  not  unknown,  and 
as  a  matter  of  proof  the  lecturer,  by  the  use  of 
his  extraordinary  power  of  communion,  in- 
duced a  "spirit"  to  instill  certain  motions  into 


204  APPENDIX 

the  table,  which  might  be  understood  as  the 
well-known  dance  (with  interpretative  reserva- 
tions). 

Next  in  order  of  illusions  (requiring  a  dark- 
ened house  also)  was  the  recalling  of  a  few  de- 
parted relatives  who,  in  white  ghost-like  forms, 
eerily  flitted  about  the  stage.  Then  came  a 
demonstration  of  the  extraordinary  psychic 
power  of  a  simple  bit  of  machinery  consisting 
of  a  false  hand  resting  upon  a  board.  The  hand 
moved  three  times  in  rendering  a  "yes"  answer 
and  one  for  "no"  to  questions  put  by  members 
of  the  audience.  After  that,  the  lecturer 
worked  himself  up  into  a  perfectly  good  trance 
and  went  among  the  audience  telling  different 
people  things  about  themselves  which  were  ab- 
solutely true  and  some  say,  he  had  no  business 
knowing.  One  of  these  things  was  the  location 
of  a  pin,  supposed  to  be  lost,  which  the  father 
declared  could  be  found  in  a  particular  corner 
of  a  particular  drawer  of  a  particular  young 
woman's  dresser.  The  young  woman  was  par- 
ticular about  not  revealing  her  identity. 

Interesting  Demonstration 

A  demonstration  of  unusual  interest  was  the 
message  reading  which  Father  de  Heredia  per- 
formed, somewhat  after  the  manner  of  Mrs. 
Isabel  Bradley,  who  recently  conducted  services 
under  the  auspices  of  the  First  Spiritualistic 
Church  in  this  city.  One  of  the  chief  dift'er- 
ences  between  the  two,  however,  lies  in  the  fact 


APPENDIX  205 

that  Father  de  Heredia  did  not  seem  at  all  con- 
cerned if  any  number  of  people  touched  the 
same  ballot,  whereas  it  is  said  that  Mrs.  Brad- 
ley considered  that  such  multifarious  handling 
was  disconcerting  to  the  "vibrations."  With  a 
huge  "emerald"  placed  before  his  eye  in  the  po- 
sition of  a  telescope,  Father  de  Heredia  viewed 
at  a  stage-breadth  a  glass  jar  containing  the 
written  questions,  carefully  enveloped  and 
sealed,  of  several  members  of  the  audience.  He 
then  proceeded  to  give  the  answers  to  the  ques- 
tions with  an  accuracy  and  completeness  which 
should  cause  Mrs.  Bradley  considerable  profes- 
sional jealousy. 

Levitates  His  Body 

Without  question,  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
illusions  with  which  the  priest  amused  the  audi- 
ence was  the  levitation  of  his  body  (with 
darkened  stage).  His  body,  barely  distinguish- 
able in  the  back-stage  gloom,  could  be  seen  to 
rise,  assume  a  horizontal  position,  rest  there  for 
an  interval  and  gradually  return  to  the  floor  (in 
an  erect  position).  The  services  of  two  physi- 
cians were  necessary  to  restore  the  demonstra- 
tor to  a  normal  condition.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  performance  Father  de  Heredia  invited 
any  member  of  the  audience  to  come  on  the 
stage  and  examine  it  for  evidences  of  appara- 
tus. Several  took  advantage  of  the  offer  and 
reported  that  their  investigations  were  fruit- 
less. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

ABBOTT,  DAVID  P.,  Behind  the  Scenes  with  the  Mediums, 
Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  Chicago,  1907. 

ADAMS,  W.  H.  D.,  Witch,  Warlock  and  Magician,  New  York, 
1889. 

AKSAKOV,    ALEKSANDR    NIKOLAEVICH,    Animistne    et 

Spiritisme,  Paris,  1895. 

ANGEL  WORLD,  THE,  The  New  Revelation,  Utica,  1877. 

ANGLEMONT,  DE,  COUNT  ARTHUR,  El  Hipnotismo,  el 
Magnetismo  y  la  Mediumidad  Scientificamente  Demonstra- 
dos,  Barcelona,  1895. 

ANNALES  DES  SCIENCES  PSYCHIQUES,  Paris. 

ANONYMOUS,  The  Devil's  Legacy,  Palmyra,  Pa.,  1904. 

ANTONELLI,  J.,  El  Espiritismo  o  los  Fenomenos  Medianicos. 

AQUINAS,  THOMAS,  Summa  Theologica,  Questiones  Dispu- 
tatae  Contra  Gentiles. 

ASHTON,  J.,  The  Devil  in  Britain  and  America,  London,  1896. 

ASSIER,  A.  D',  Posthumous  Humanity,  London,  1887. 

BALDV/IN,  SAMRI  S.,  The  Secrets  of  Mahatma  Land  Ex- 
plained, Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  1895. 

BARADUC,  HIPPOLYTE,  Les  Vibrations  de  la  Vitalite  Hu- 
maine,  Paris,  1904. 

BARETY,  La  Magnetisme  Animal,  Paris,  1890. 

BARKER,  E.,  Letters  from  a  Living  Dead  Man,  Kennerley,  Nevr 
York,  1914. 

BARKER,  K,  War  Letters  from  the  Living  Dead  Man,  Ken- 
nerley, New  York,  1915. 

BARNES,  W.  A.,  Synopsis  of  Hypnotism,  Boston,  1897. 

BARRETT,  SIR  WILLIAM  F.,  On  the  Threshold  of  the  Un- 
seen, Dutton,  New  York,  1917. 

BARRETT,   SIR  WILLIAM   F.,   Psychical   Research,   London, 

1911. 
BATAILLE,  LE  DOCTEUR,  Le  Diable  au  XIX"  Siecle,  Paris. 

207 


2o8     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

BATES,  E.  K.. 

Psychical  Science  and  Christianity,  1909. 

Do  the  Dead  Depart?  and  Other  Questions,  1908. 

The  Psychic  Realm,   1910. 

Seen  and  Unseen,  1908. 

BAUDI  DE  VESME,  C,  Storia  dello  Spiritismo,  Turin,  1896-7. 

BAUDOIN,   C,   Suggestion   and   Autosuggestion,   Dodd,   Mead, 
New  York,  1921. 

BEARD,   G.   M.,   Psychology  of   the   Salem  Witchcraft   Excite- 
ment of  1692,  New  York,  1882. 

BEARD,  G.  M.,  Scientific  Basis  of  Delusions,  New  York,  1877. 

BEECHER,  C.,  Spiritual  Manifestations,  Boston,  1879. 

BELL,  H.  J.,  Obeah:   Witchcraft  in  the  West  Indies,  London, 
1889. 

BENEZECH,  A.,  Les  Phenomenes   Psychiques   et  La  Question 
de  la'Au-Dela,  Paris,  1912. 

BERGEN,   MRS.   F.  D.,   Current   Superstitions,  Collected   from 
the  Oral  Tradition  of  English-Speaking  Folk,  Boston,  1896. 

BERNHEIM,  H.,  Hypnotisme,  Suggestion,  Psychotherapie,  Paris, 
1886. 

BERNHEIM,  H.,  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  New  York,  1889. 

BERTRAND,  I.,  La  Religion  Spirite,  Paris,  1900. 

BIEDERMANN,  W.,  Electro-Physiology,  2  vols.,  London,  1896- 
1898. 

BINET,  A.,  Animal  Magnetism,  New  York,  1888. 

BINET  ET  FERE,  Revue  Philosoph.,  Nos.  1-3,  1885. 

BIZOUARD,   J.,    Des    Rapports    de    I'Homme   avec   le   Demon, 
Paris,  1863. 

BJORNSON,  B.,  Wise-Knut,  Brandeis,  New  York,  1909. 

BJORNSTROM,  F.  J.,  Hypnotism,  New  York,  1887. 

BOIRAC,  EMILE,  La  Psychologic  Inconnue,  Paris,  1912. 

BOIRAC,  EMILE,  Our  Hidden  Forces,  New  York,  1917. 

BOIS,  G., 

Le  Peril  Occultiste,  Paris,  1900. 

Le  Monde  Invisible,  Marseilles,  1903. 

Le  Miracle  Moderne,  Paris,  1907. 

BOLO,    HENRY,    Nuestras    Comunicaciones   con    los    Muertos, 
Mexico,  1904. 

BOND,  F.  B.,  The  Hill  of  Vision,  Marshall-Jones  Co.,  Boston, 
1919- 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED     209 

BONNIOT,  DE,  J.,  Le  Miracle  et  Ses  Contrefagons,  Paris,  1895. 

BOUCARD,  L.,  El  Dogma  Catolico  ante  la  Raison  y  la  Ciencia, 
Barcelona,  19 10. 

BRAMWELL,  J.  M..  Hypnotism,  Its  History,  Practice  and 
Theory,  London,  1903. 

BREWER,  E.  COBHAM,  A  Dictionary  of  Miracles,  London, 
1901,  Philadelphia,  1884. 

BRITTAN,  S.  B.^  The  Spiritual  Telegraph,  1853-4. 

BRITTAN,  S.  B.,  &  RICHMOND,  B.  W.,  Discussion  of  the 
Facts  and  Philosophy  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Spiritualism, 
New  York,  1853. 

BRITTEN,  E.  H.,  Modern  American  Spiritualism,  New  York, 
1870. 

BRUCE,  H.  A.  B.,  Adventurings  in  the  Psychical,  Boston,  1914. 

BRUCE,  H.  A.  B.,  The  Riddle  of  Personality,  New  York,  1908. 

BRUCE,  H.  ADDINGTON,  Historic  Ghosts  and  Ghost  Hunters, 
New  York,  1908. 

BUCKLEY,  J.  M.,  Faith-Healing,  Christian  Science  and  Kindred 
Phenomena,  New  York,  1892. 

CALDERONE,  La  Reincarnazione,  Milan,  1913. 

CALMET,  AUGUSTIN,  The  Phantom  World  (Apparition  des 
Esprits),  Philadelphia  and  London,  1850;  Paris,  1851. 

CAMERON,  M.,  The  Seven  Purposes,  Harper  Brothers,  New 
York  and  London,  1918. 

CAMPILI,  G.,  II  Grande  Ipnotismo,  Turin,  1896. 

CAROLI,  G.  M.,  Del  Magnetismo  Animale  ossia  Mesmerismo  in 
Ordine  alia  Ragione  e  alia  Rivelazione,  Bologna,  1858. 

CARPENTER,  W.  B.,  Mesmerism,  Spiritualism,  etc.,  New  York, 
1877. 

CARRINGTON,  HERWARD 

Psychical    Phenomena    and    the    War,    Dodd,    Mead,    New 

York,  1918. 
Hindu  Magic,  Kansas  City,  1913. 
Higher  Psychical   Development,  New  York,  1920. 
The  Problems  of  Psychical  Research,  New  York,  1921. 
True  Ghost  Stories,  New  York,  1915. 
Death,  Its  Causes  and  Phenomena,  New  York,  1921. 
Physical  Phenomena  of   Spiritualism,  Turner,  Boston,  1907. 
Eusapia  Palladino  and  Her  Phenomena,  New  York,  1909. 
The  Coming  Science,  1908. 


210     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

CARRINGTON,  HERWARD  (Continued) 

Modern  Psychical  Phenomena,  Dodd,  Mead,  New  York,  1919. 

Death  Deferred.  Philadelphia,  1912. 

Personal  Experiences  in  Spiritualism,  London,  1913. 

CARUS,  PAUL,  The  Old  and  New  Magic,  Chicago,  1903. 

CELLINI,  BENVENUTO,  Autobiografia,  Madrid,  1892. 

CHARCOT,  I.  M.,  Hypnotisme,  Complete  Works,  vol.  ix,  Paris, 
1890. 

CIVILTA  CATTOLICA,  1884,  '85,  '90,  '91,  '92,  '95. 

CLODD,  E.,  The  Question:  "If  a  Man  Die  Shall  He  Live 
Again?",  E.  J.  Clode,  New  York,  1918. 

COAKLEY,  TH.  F.,  Spiritism ;  the  Modern  Satanism,  Extension 
Press,  Chicago,  1920. 

COCKE,  J.  R.,  Hypnotism,  Boston,  1894. 

CONSTANT,  A.  L.,  The  History  of  Magic,  W.  Rider  &  Son, 
London,  1913. 

CONWAY,  M.  D.,  Demonology  and  Devil-Lore,  2  vols.,  New 
York,  1879. 

COOK,  W.  W.,  Practical  Lessons  in  Hypnotism,  Chicago,  1901. 

COOVER,  JOHN  EDGAR,  Experiments  in  Psychical  Research 
at  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  University,  Stanford,  1917. 

CORSON,  H.,  Spirit  Messages,  with  an  Introductory  Essay  on 
Spiritual  Vitality,  New  Edition,  Austin  Pub.,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  1919. 

COX,  SERGEANT,  The  Mechanism  of  Man,  an  Answer  to  the 
Question,  "What  Am  I?",  2  vols.,  London,  1876. 

CRAWFORD,  W.  J.. 

The  Reality  of  Psychic  Phenomena,  London,  1916. 
Hints   and    Observations   for   Those    Investigating   the   Phe- 
nomena of   Spiritualism,  New  York,   1918. 
Experiments  in  Psychical  Science,  New  York,  1919. 

CROOKES,  SIR  WM.,  Researches  in  the  Phenomena  of  Spirit- 
ualism, London,  1874. 

CROOKES,  SIR  WM.,  "Spiritualism  and  Science,"  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Science,  1870-71. 

CULLERRE,  Magnetisme  et  Hypnotisme,  Paris,  1895. 

CUMBERLAND,  STUART  C,  A  Thought-Reader's  Thoughts; 
Impressions  and  Confessions,  London,  1888. 

DAHLGREN,  MRS.  M.  (V.)  G.,  South-Mountain  Magic.  Bos- 
ton, 1882, 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED     211 

DALLAS,  H.  A.,  Death,  the  Gate  of  Life?,  Dutton,  New  York, 
1919. 

DALLOZ,    Article   on   "Escroquerie,"    Dictionnaire    des    Scienc. 
Med.,  of  Deschambre. 

DAVENPORT,  REUBEN  B.,  The  Death-Blow  to  Spiritualism, 
New  York,  1888. 

DAVIS,  A.  J., 

The  Diakka  and  Their  Earthly  Victims,  Austin  Pub.,  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  1873. 
Memoranda  of  Persons,  Places  and  Events,  Boston,  1868. 
Philosophy  of  Spiritual  Intercourse,  Boston,  1872. 

DE  GASPARIS,  AGENOR,  Des  Tables  Tournantes,  Paris,  1857. 

DE  GAUDEMBERG,  GIRARD,  Le  Monde  Spirit,  Paris,  1857. 

DE  GRANDMAISON  DE  BRUNO,  20  Cures  at  Lourdes,  St. 
Louis,  1912. 

DELANNE,  G., 

Le  Spiritisme  Devant  la  Science,  Paris,  1885. 
Recherches  sur  la  Mediumnite,  Paris,  1902. 
Le  Monde  Invisible,  Marseilles,  1903. 

DENIS,  LEON,  Le  Spiritisme  et  Les  Mediumnites,  Paris,  1904. 

DENIS,  LEON,  L'Echo  due  Merveilleux,  Paris. 

DENTON,  W.,   Soul  of  Things,  or,  Psycho-Metric  Researches 
and  Discoveries,  3  vols.,  1873. 

DE  ROCHAS,  Les  Etats  Profonds  de  L'Hypnotisme,  Paris,  1895. 

DESCHAMBRE,  "La  Doctrine  Spirite,"  Gaz.  Hebdom.  de  Med. 
et  de  Chir.,  1859. 

DE  VERE,  M.  S.,  Modern  Magic,  1873. 

DODS,  J.  B.,  Spirit  Manifestations,  New  York,  1854. 

DOT,  DU,  A.  JEANNIARD,  Ou  en  Est  Le  Spiritisme?,  Paris, 

1900. 
DOYLE,  SIR  A.  CONAN, 

The  New  Revelation,  New  York,  1918. 

The  Vital  Message,  New  York,  1919. 

The  Wonderings  of  a  Spiritualist,  New  York,  1921. 

DUNCAN,   ROBT.    KENNEDY,    The   New   Knowledge,    New 

York,  1906. 
DUPOUY,  E.,  Science  Occultes  et  Physiologic  Psychique,  Paris, 

1898. 
DYER,  T.  F.  T.,  The  Ghost  World,  1893. 

EDMONDS,  J.  W.,  and  DEXTER,  G.  T.,  On  Spiritualism   (2 
vols.),  New  York,  1853,  '85. 


212     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

EDMONDS,  J.  W.,  Letters  on  Spiritism. 

ELBE,  LOUIS,  Future  Life  in  the  Light  of  Ancient  Wisdom 
and  Modern  Science,  Chicago,  1906. 

ELWORTHY,  Evil  Eye. 

ENCAUSSE    (PAPUS),  G.,  L'Occultisme  et  Le  Spiritualisme, 
Paris,  1902. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA  BRITANNICA,  passim. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA,  CATHOLIC,  passim. 

ENNEMOSER,  J.,  History  of  Magic;  tr.  from  German  by  W. 
Howitt,  2  vols.,  London,  1854. 

ETUDES,  LES,  Paris. 

FAIRFIELD,  F.  G.,  Ten  Years  with  Spiritual  Mediums,  New 
York,  1875. 

FAROES,  MGR.  ALBERT,  Le  Cerveau,  Paris,  1908. 

FARMER,  JOHN  S.,  A  New  Basis  of  Belief  in  Immortality, 
London,  1881. 

FARRINGTON,  ELIJAH,  Revelations  of  a  Spirit  Medium,  St. 
Paul,  1 89 1. 

FIGUIER,  L.,  Le  Spiritisme,  Paris,  1896. 

FILIARE,  J.,  Occultism©  Experimental,  Madrid,  1911. 

FLAMMARION,  C, 

Death  and  Its  Mystery;  Before  Death.   Century,   1921. 

Les  Forces  Naturelles  Inconnues,  Paris,  1907. 

The  Unknown,  New  York,  1900. 

Mysterious  Psychic  Forces,  Small,  Maynard,  Boston,  1907. 

FLOURNOY,  T., 

Spiritism  and  Psychology,  Harper,  New  York  and  London, 

1911. 
From  India  to  the  Planet  Mars ;  a  Study  of  a  Case  of  Som- 
nambulism, 1900. 
Spirits  et  Mediums,  Geneva,  191 1. 

FONTAN  ET  SEGARD,  Hypnotisme  et  Suggestion.  Paris,  1887. 

FONTENAY,  DE,  G.,  La  Photographie  et  I'Etude  des  Phenom- 

enes  Psychiques,  Paris,  1912. 
FOREL,  M.  D.  A.,  Hypnotism,  New  York,  1907. 
FOURNIER,  D'ALBE  E.  E.,  The  Electron  Theory,  London,  1909. 
FRANCO,  G.,  Lo  Spiritismo,  Rome,  1893. 

FUNK,  I.  K.,  The  Widow's  Mite  and  Other  Psychic  Phenom- 
ena, Funk-Wagualls,  New  York  and  London,  1904. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED     213 

FUNK,  I.  K,  The  Psychic  Riddle,  Funk-Wagnalls,  New  York 
and  London,  1907. 

GARLAND,  H.,  The  Shadow  World,  Harper,  New  York,  1908. 

GIBIER,  PAUL,  Le  Spiritisme  ou  Fakirisme  Occidental,  Paris, 
1891. 

GIBIER,  PAUL,  Le  Spiritisme,  Paris,  1896. 

GILLES,  DE  LA  TOURETTE,  Ipnotismo,  Italian  Vers.,  MUan, 

1888. 

GOLDSTON,  W., 

Stage  Illusions,  London. 
The  Magazine  of  Magic. 
The  Magician's  Annual,  1910-11. 
Indoor  Pastimes,  London. 

GRASSET,  J.,  L'Occultisme  d'Hier  et  d'Aujourd'hui,  Mont- 
pellier,  1908. 

GRASSET,  J.,  The  Marvels  Beyond  Science,  New  York  and 
London,  1910. 

GREGORY,  W.,  Animal  Magnetism,  1896. 

GREGORY,  W.,  Letters  to  a  Candid  Inquirer  on  Animal  Mag- 
netism, 1851. 

GRUENDER,  S.  J.  HUBERT,  An  Introductory  Course  in 
Experimental  Psychology,  Chicago,  1920. 

GULDENSTUBBE,  BARON  LOUIS  DE,  Pneumatologie  Posi- 
tive et  Experimentale ;  la  Realite  des  Esprits  et  Le  Phe- 
nomene  Merveilleux  de  Leur  Ecriture  Direct,  Demontre  par 
Le  Baron  de  Guldenstubbe,  Paris,  1857. 

GURNEY  (E.),  MYERS  (F.  W.)  and  PODMORE  (F),  Phan- 
tasms of  the  Living,  2  vols.,  London,  1887. 

HAHN  ET  THOMAS,  Article  on  "Spiritismus,"  in  Dictionn. 
Encyclop.  des  Scienc.  Med.,  of  Deschambre. 

HAMMOND,  W.  A.,  Spiritualism,  New  York,  1876. 

HARE,  ROBERT,  Experimental  Investigation  of  the  Spirit 
Manifestations,  New  York,  1855. 

HARRIS,  T.  L.,  Modern  Spiritualism,  London,  i860. 
HARRIS,  T.  L.,  Arcana  of  Christianity,  London,  1867. 
HARRISON,  W.  H.,  Mother  Shipton  Investigated,  i88r. 
HART,  E.  A.,  Hypnotism,  Mesmerism  and  the  New  Witchcraft, 

1896. 
HARTE,  R.,  Hypnotism  and  the  Doctors,  2  vols.,  1902-03. 


214     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

HARTMANN,  F,  Magic,  White  and  Black,  1888. 

HARTMANN,  K.  R.  E.  VON,  Spiritism,  London. 

HASTINGS,  JAMES,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 
passim.  New  York^  1921. 

HAYNES,  C.  B.,  The  Other  Side  of  Death,  Nashville. 

HEIDENHAIN,  R.  H.  P.,  II  Cose  Dello  Magnetismo  Animale, 
Arch.  Med.  It.,  1883,  '84,  '85.  (Hypnotism  or  Animal  Mag- 
netism, 1888.) 

HERRERO,  F.  GONZALES,  El  Hipnotismo,  Cuenca,  1901. 

HEYSINGER,  I.  W.,  Spirit  and  Matter  Before  the  Bar  of  Mod- 
ern Science,  1910. 

HICKEY,  J.  S.,  O.  Cist.,  Summula  Philosophiae  Scholasticae. 

HIGGINSON,  T.  W.,  The  Rationale  of  Spiritualism,  New  York, 
1859. 

HILL,  JOHN  A.,  Spiritualism,  Doran,  New  York,  1919. 

HILL,  JOHN  A.,  Psychical  Investigations,  1917. 

HOFFMAN,  PROFESSOR, 
Modern  Magic,  Philadelphia. 
More  Magic,  Philadelphia. 
Later  Magic,  New  York,  1904. 
Latest  Magic,  London. 

HOLT,  HENRY,  On  the  Cosmic  Relations,  2  vols.,  Houghton, 
Boston,  1914. 

HOME,  D.  D.,  Incidents  in  My  Life,  2nd  vol.,  London,  1864-72. 

HOME,  D.  D.,  MRS.,  Gift  of  D.  D.  Home,  London,  1890. 

HOUDINI,  H.,  Miracle  Mongers  and  Their  Methods,  1920. 

HOVEY,  W.  A.,  Mind-Reading  and  Beyond,  1885. 

HUBBEL,  G.  G.,  Fact  and  Fancy  in  Spiritualism,  Theosophy  and 
Psychical  Research,  Cincinnati,  1901. 

HUDSON,  T.  J.,  Law  of  Psychic  Phenomena,  Chicago,  1893. 

HULL,  BURLING,  Rope  Ties  and  Chain  Releases,  New  York, 
1915- 

HUNTLEY,  F.,  The  Great  Psychological  Crime,  Indo-Amer. 
Bk.,  1906. 

HYSLOP,  J.  H., 

Contact  with  the  Other  World,  New  York,  1919. 
Life  After  Death,  Dutton,  New  York,  1918. 
Enigmas   of    Psychical   Research,    Small,   Maynard,   Boston, 
1906, 


,    LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED     215 

HYSLOP,  J.  H.  (Continued) 

Borderland  of  Psychical  Research,  Small,  Maynard,  Boston, 

1906. 
Psychical   Research  and  the  Resurrection,  Small,   Maynard, 

Boston,  1908. 
Psychical  Research  and  Survival,  1913. 
Science  and  A  Future  Life,  New  York,  1905. 

JAMES,  WILLIAM, 

The  Principles  of  Psychology,  2nd  vol.,  New  York,  1920. 
Human  Immortality,  Boston,  1898. 
The  Will  to  Believe,  New  York,  1897. 

JANET,  PIERRE,  Etat  Mental  des  Hysteriques,  Les  Accidents 
Mentaux,  Paris,  1894. 

JANET,  PIERRE,  L'Automatisme  Psychologique,  Paris,  1889. 

JASTROW,  JOS.,  Fact  and  Fable  in  Psychology,  Boston,  1900. 

JOHNSON,  F.,  The  New  Psychic  Studies  in  Their  Relation  to 
Christian  Thought,  1887. 

JONES,   H.   C,   The   Electrical   Nature   of    Matter   and   Radio- 
activity, New  York,  1906. 

JOYCE,  G.  H.,  The  Question  of  Miracles,  London,  1916. 

KARDEC.  ALLAN,  Le  Livre  des  Esprits,  Paris,  1865. 

KELWAY-BAMBER,  Claude's  Book,  New  York,  1919. 

KING,  B.,  The  Abolishing  of  Death,  Cosmopolitan,  New  York, 
1919. 

LANG,  A.,  Cock  Lane  and  Common  Sense,  London,  1894. 

LANG,  A.,  Book  of  Dreams  and  Ghosts. 

LANSLOTS,  O.S.B.,  D.  I.,  Spiritism  Unveiled,  St.  Louis,  1913. 

LAPPONI,  G.,  Hypnotism  and  Spiritism,  Longmans,  1907. 

LEE,  F.  G.  (ed.). 

Sights  and  Shadows,  1894. 

Glimpses  in  the  Twilight,  London,  1885. 

The  Other  World :   Glimpses   of  the   Supernatural,  2  vols., 

1875. 
More  Glimpses  of  the  World  Unseen,  London,  1878. 

LEGRAND  DU  SAULLE,  Les  Hysteriques,  Paris,  1891. 

LEPICIER,   O.S.M.,  ALEXIUS,  The  Unseen   World,  London, 
1906. 

LESCOEUR,  L.,  La  Science  et  Les  Faits  Surnaturels  Contem- 
porains,  Paris,  1897. 


2i6    LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

LIGHT,  a  Journal  of  Psychical,  Occult,  and  Mystical  Research, 
London. 

LILJENCRANTS,  JOHN,  Spiritism  and  Religion,  Devin-Adair, 
New  York,  1918. 

LILLIE,  ARTHUR,  Modern  Mystics  and  Modern  Magic,  New 
York,  1894. 

LINTON,  C,  Healing  of  the  Nations,  New  York,  1855. 

LODGE,  SIR  OLIVER,  The  Survival  of  Man,  London,  1909. 

LODGE,  SIR  OLIVER,  Raymond;  or.  Life  and  Death,  Doran, 
New  York,  1916. 

LOMBROSO,  CESARE,  After  Death— What?     Spiritistic  Phe- 
nomena and  Their  Interpretation,  London,  1909. 

LONDON  DIALECTICAL  SOCIETY,  Report  on  Spiritualism, 
1871. 

LUYS,  Hypnotisme  Experimental,  Paris,  1890. 

MACGREGOR,  A.,  Highland  Superstitions,  1901. 

MACKAY,  C,  Memoirs  of  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions  and 
the  Madness  of  Crowds,  2  vols. 

MAGGIORANI,  Influenza  del  Magnetismo  Sulla  Vita  Animale, 
Naples,  1881. 

MAGICO,  EL,  DE  ASTRAKAN,  Los  Suenos  Explicados,  Paris. 

MAKER,  S.J.,  M.,  Psychology,  London,  1900. 

MARRYAT,  F.,  There  Is  No  Death,  New  York,  1891. 

MASKELYNE,  J.  N.,  and  WEATHERLY,  The  Supernatural?, 
Bristol,  1891. 

MASKELYNE,  N.,  Our  Magic,  London,  191 1. 

MASON,  R.  O.,  Telepathy  and  the  Subliminal  Self,  New  York, 

1897. 
MASON,  R.  O.,  Hypnotism  and  Suggestion,  1901. 
MATHER,   Remarkable  Providences. 
MATIGNON,  A.,  L'Evocation  Des  Morts,  Paris,  1902. 

MAUDSLEY,  H.,  Natural  Causes  and  Supernatural  Seemings, 
1886. 

MAX,  SIMON,  Le  Mond  des  Reves,  Paris,  1888. 

MAXWELL,  JOS.,  Metaphysical  Phenomena,  1905. 

McCABE,  JOSEPH,  Spiritualism,  a  Popular  History  from  1847, 
New  York  and  London,  1920. 

McCOSH,  J.,  Certitude,  Providence  and  Prayer. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED     217 

MERIC,  L'ABBE  ELIE,  L' Autre  Vie,  2nd  vol.,  Paris,  1882. 

MERIC,  L'ABBE  ELIE,  Le  Merveilleux  et  la   Science,  Paris. 

METZGER,  D.,  Ipnotismo  e  Spiritismo,  Practical  Method,  Tu- 
rin, 1893. 

MILL,  JOHN,  The  Realities  of  Modern  Science,  New  York,  1919. 

MIR,  J.,  El  Milagro,  Barcelona,  1915. 

MOLL,  A.,  Hypnotism,  1890. 

MORSELLI,  E.,  Psicologia  e  Spiritismo,  Turin,  1908. 

MOSELEY,  SIDNEY  A.,  An  Amazing  Seance  and  an  Exposure, 
London,  1919. 

MOSES,  W.  S.,  Spirit  Teachings,  6th  ed.,  1907. 

MUNSTERBERG,  H.,  Psychology,  General  and  Applied,  Apple- 
ton,  New  York  and  London,  1914. 

MYERS,  FRED  W.  H.,  Human  Personality  and  its  Survival  of 
Bodily  Death,  2  vols.,  Longmans,    1903,  '20. 

MYERS,  G.,  Beyond  the  Borderline  of  Life,  1910. 
MYSTERIES  OF  THE  SfiANCE:  BY  A  MEDIUM,  Boston, 
1905. 

NEAL,  E.   (ed.),  Hypnotism  and   Hypnotic  Suggestion:  by  30 
Authors,  1900. 

NELSON'S  ENCYCLOPEDIA,  passim. 

NISBET,  J.  F.,  The  Insanity  of  Genius,  New  York,  1912. 

OCHOROWICZ,  Le  Suggestion  Mentale,  Paris,  1887. 

OCHOROWICZ,  Revue  Scientif.,  May,  1884;  Riforma  Medica, 
August,  1895. 

O'DONNELL,  E.,  By-Ways  of  Ghost-Land,  191 1. 

O'DONNELL,  E.,  Some  Haunted  Houses  of  England  and  Wales, 
Nash,  1908. 

O'REILLY,   RT.  REV.   MONS.   BERNARD,   Novissima,  New 
York,  1893. 

OTTOLENGHI,  La  Suggestione  e  Le  Facolta  Psychiche  Occulte, 
Turin,  1900. 

OVERTON,  A.  M.  F.,  Applied  Physiology.  New  York,  1910. 

OWEN,  R.  DALE,  The  Debatable  Land  Between  This  World  and 
the  Next,  New  York,  1872. 

OWEN,    R.    DALE,    Footfalls    on    the    Boundary    of    Another 
World,  Philadelphia,  i860. 


2i8     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

PARISH,  EDM.,  Hallucinations  and  Illusions,  New  York,  1897. 

PEARSON,  N.,  The  Soul  and  Its  Story,  London,  1916. 

PEEBLES,  JAS.  MARTIN,  Seers  of  the  Ages,  Boston,  1869. 

PEMBER,  G.  H.,  Earth's  Earliest  Ages,  Revell,  New  York  and 
Chicago. 

PENN.  UNIV. :  Seybert  Commission  for  Investigating  Modern 
Spiritualism,  Preliminary  Report,  Philadelphia,  1887. 

PHILPOT,   A.   J.,   The   Quest   for    Bridgman   Conner,   Boston, 

1915- 
PODMORE,  P.. 

Modern  Spiritualism,  2nd  vol.,  London,  1902. 

The  Newer  Spiritualism,  London,  1910. 

Apparitions  and  Thought  Transference,  London,  1894. 

The  Naturalization  of  the  Supernatural,  New  York,  1908. 

Studies  in  Psychical  Research,  London,  1897. 

POULAIN,  S.J.,  R.  P.,  The  Graces  of  Interior  Prayer,  London. 
PRIMER  CONGRESO  NACIONAL  EXPIRITA,  Mexico,  1906. 

REED,  J.  FRANCES,  Truth  and  Facts  Pertaining  to  Spiritual- 
ism, 191 1. 

REICHENBACH,  DE,  C,  Les  Phenomenes  Odiques,  Paris,  1904. 

REMY,  M.,  Spirites  et  Illusionistes,  Paris,  1909. 

RIDGLEY,  EVANS  H.,  The  Spirit  World  Unmasked,  Chicago, 

1897. 
ROBACK,  DR.  C.  W.,  Spirit  Slate  Writing. 
ROSSI  DE  JUSTINIANI,  Le  Spiritisme  Dans  L'Histoire,  Paris, 

1879. 
ROURE,  S.J.,  LUCIEN,  Le  Merveilleux  Spirite,  Paris,  1917. 

RYDBERG,  A.  V.,  Magic  of  the  Middle  Ages,  tr.  from  the 
Swedish,  1879. 

SAGE,  X.  L.,  Mrs.  Piper  and  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
tr.  and  abridged  from  the  French  by  N.  Robertson,  New 
York,  1904. 

SALVERTE,  S.J.,  E.  B.,  The  Occult  Sciences,  tr.  from  the 
French,  2  vols.,  1846. 

SAVILE,  B.  W.,  Apparitions.  1874. 

SCHNEIDER,  W.,  The  Other  Life,  New  York,  1920. 

SCHOFIELD,  A.  T..  Modern  Spiritism,  Its  Science  and  Re- 
ligion, Blakiston,  Philadelphia,  1920. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED      219 

SCHRENCK-NOTZING,   BARON   VON,   Phenomena  of   Ma- 
terialization, London,  1920. 

SCIENS,  pseud.,  How  to  Speak  with  the  Dead,  1918. 

SCOTT,   SIR  WALTER,   Letters  on  Demonology  and  Witch- 
craft, 1898. 

SEWALL,  M.  W.,  Neither  Dead  Nor  Sleeping,  Bobbs-Merrill, 
New  York,  1920. 

SEYMOUR,  J.  D.,  True  Irish  Ghost  Stories,  1914. 

SIDIS,  BORIS,  The  Psychology  of  Suggestion,  New  York,  1920. 

SMEDLEY,  E.,  et  alt..  The  Occult  Sciences,  1855. 

SOCIETY    FOR    PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH,    AMERICAN, 
Proceedings,  passim. 

SOCIETY  FOR  PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH,  LONDON,  Pro- 
ceedings and  Jour.,  passim. 

SPENCE,  L.,  An  Encyclopedia  of  Occultism,  passim,  New  York, 
1920. 

ST.  GERMAIN,  CMTE.  C.  DE,  Practical  Hypnotism,  Chicago, 
1901. 

STOCK,  ST.  GEORGE,  Attempts  at  Truth,  London,  1882. 

SUAREZ,  SJ.,  FRANCISCUS,  De  Anima  Separate,  De  Angelis. 

SULLY,  JAMES,  Illusions,  London,  1881. 

SURBLED, 

Spirites  et  Mediums,  Paris,  1901. 

Spiritualisme  et  Spiritisme,  Paris,  1898. 

Le  Spiritisme  Devant  La  Science,  Paris,  1904. 

SYLVAN,  I.,  Le  Monde  des  Spirits,  Paris,  1912. 

TANNER,  A.  E.,  Studies  in  Spiritism,  Appleton,  New  York  and 
London,  1910. 

TAPPAN,  MRS.  C.  L.  V.  H.,  Discourses  on  Religion,  Morals, 
Philosophy  and  Metaphysics,  Vol.  I,  New  York,  1858. 

THOMAS,  NORTHCOTE,  WHITRIDGE,  Thought  Transfer- 
ence, London,  1905. 

THOMPSON,  M.  M.,  The  Witches  of  New  York,  1858. 

THORPE,  C,  Practical  Crystal-Gazing,  London,  1916. 

TROUFY,  CHAS.,  Causerie  Spirito,  Paris,  1896. 

TRUESDELL,  JOHN  W.,  Bottom  Facts  Concerning  the  Science 
of  Spiritualism,  New  Yor'k,  1892. 

TUCKEY,  C.  LLOYD,  Treatment  by  Hypnotism  and  Suggestion, 
London,  1907. 


220     LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONSULTED 

TUTTLE,  HUDSON,  Arcana  of  Spiritualism,  Manchester,  1900, 

TUTTLE,  HUDSON,  Studies  on  the  Outlying  Fields  of  Psychic 
Science,  Tuttle  Pub. 

UGARTE  DE   ERCILLA,   S.J.,  EUSTAQUIS,   El  Espiritismo 
Moderno,  Barcelona,  1916. 

URRABURU,   SJ.,  J.  J.,  Institutiones   Philosophicae,  Vol.  VI, 
Psychol.  Pars  Secunda,  Valladolid,  1898. 

VILLEMS,  C,  Institutiones  Philosophicae,  Vol.  II,  Treveris,  1906. 
VIOLETT,  M.,  Le  Spiritisme,  Paris,  1908. 

WALLACE,  A.   RUSSEL,   Miracles  and  Modern   Spiritualism, 
Three  Essays,  London,  1875. 

WALSH,  W.  S.,  The  Psychology  of  Dreams,  New  York,  1920. 

WASMANN,  SJ.,  ERIC,  Instinct  and  Intelligence  in  the  Animal 
Kingdom,  St.  Louis,  1903. 

WATSON,  A.  D.,  The  Twentieth   Plane,  Jacobs,   Philadelphia, 
1919. 

WHITING,   L..  After   Her  Death:   The   Story  of   a   Summer, 
Boston,  1917. 

WHITING,  L.,  The  Adventure  Beautiful,  Boston,  1917. 

WINDLE,  SIR  BERTRAND  C.  A.,  The  Church  and  Science, 
London,  19 17,  1920. 

WINDLE,  SIR  BERTRAND  C.  A.,  Facts  and  Theories,  Lon- 
don, 1912. 

WRIGHT,  D.,  The  Epworth  Phenomena,  Philadelphia,  1920. 

YUNG,  EMILE,  Le   Sommeil   Normal   et   Pathologique,   Paris, 
1887. 

ZANCINGS,  THE,  Two  Minds  with  but  a  Single  Thought,  Lon- 
don, 1907. 

ZOLLNER,  J.  K.  P.,  Transcendental  Physics :  trans,  from  the 
German  by  C.  C.  Massey,  Boston,  1881. 


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